Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Case for Forgiveness

I have hurt you.
You have hurt me.
It will happen again,
Only with remorse,
Only with  forgiveness,
Can human love hold.

22 comments:

  1. Your poem's message rings true with me, Victoria. Without forgiveness love will wilt and die. I had not thought of it quite this way before.

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    1. I like your revision, Victoria. (And I hate that I made a typo in my first comment....'wither.' I also had understood what you meant in the first version. We cannot NOT hurt one another in intimate relationships; but we CAN apologize, can forgive, can continue to love.)

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  2. Very true, there is no way forward unless we can forgive.

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  3. It can take a while to learn this, however we all need to.

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  4. Very lovely, Victoria. The human condition.

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  5. Thinking of "first do no harm", not necessarily meaning physical harm. Wise words, Victoria.

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  6. it will happen again...without remorse...
    This is the question isn't it? Particularly with those we love. The 'next' forgiveness is that bit more difficult. Then finally, do we forgive knowing that the issue will STILL come up? Do we shut down to avoid the inevitable?

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  7. Thanks for all the lovely comments. Kolembo, your comment caused me to go back and reread the poem and I realized I had mispunctuated. I wrote this poem about the necessity of forgiveness and remorse in even the best human relationships, rather than writing about those in which self care requires distancing. That line is there, especially when the other has no remorse. I was trying to write about forgiveness in the presence of remorse, love, good intrentions. And Ann, I just don't believe in the possibility of doing no harm in intimate relationships, which is why the meaning of this poem is so central to my life. I hope it is clearer in the revised form.

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  8. It's the UNforgiving who suffer most.

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  9. Beautiful, Victoria! Forgiveness is a very necessary part of love indeed.

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  10. Yes, Victoria, forgiveness. But, having to forgive again and again is hard, especially when the other doesn't see a need to forgive too, or being the one to forgive.

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  11. Wise words. So, why is it so hard to do at times? ;)

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  12. simple...wise....love and forgiveness go hand in hand...neither exists without the other....

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  13. Impossible to misunderstand, lovingly forthright.

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  14. you make a good case, Victoria... well done!

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  15. Beautifully put and so very true. I love your wisdom poems!

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