Saint of Faults

Pressured to capitulate; no! though bowled in and rock-bound,

Escarpments sheer, towering in on every side, with grit I gripped,

My fleshy fingers, ripped ragged, food for sharp, frigid, flint edges,

I clawed my way out and rose only to find myself before the Judge.

 

The disgrace, the wondering thoughts, the invaders from history,

I’ve overcome. now, this Penitentiary, I welcome.

The presentation of one’s whole life; purification; I tremble,

Shake at the prospect; a Just Judge with rights to one’s innermost space.

 

A fugitive in hiding, a convict behind a pleasant façade, (a banished soul?);

Before God Almighty, all is revealed. I’ll

serve my penance -

A purgatorial sentencing - reparations and atonement for all that is due,

His Justice severe, merciful and fair, forever cleansing, cleansed forever!

 

The steep heap of past sins, rehashed, replayed; condemnable.

Commendable: the saintly struggle, the arduous climb,

The saint of faults. for my final days were spent in strife but

I didn’t strive alone -a beggar of grace - I too took up my cross so that one day, I too could rise anew.

 

Gary Edward Geraci