In my dreams
I see two very different people.
I see myself.
And I see someone else.
The someone else
Breathes fire and flies
But everyone loves him.
They call him, “Super Boy.”
He makes love with every virgin.
He fights in every battle.
He is a killer—
I’ve seen it.
It is someone else’s life that I see.
Facing up to my past,
Being selfish toward my mother,
Being cruel,
I was not very nice.
Those were my sins, though.
Having to look at all the people I’ve wronged,
All of the animals,
And to see that some of them will never forgive me,
It is a hard feeling.
It is a hard feeling,
But it’s even harder
To see them love
And forgive
The monster but not me.
To call me a “Traitor”
When I saw her unconditionally love that other man.
It’s the quintessential truth of Christianity:
A repentant man is despised
While
A flagrant man is lauded.
But, those who really matter do
In fact,
Forgive.
B. K. Neifert 