POETRY

Penance

Free verse poetry

Getting closer to God through mortification Of the self, “putting the flesh to death,” Penance for sinful acts, offering up discomfort and pain.

Without a pillow? sleep on the floor, Fasting for a day? Try forty, Self-flagellation? Crank that thigh chain tighter.

How far will one go to be like Christ? Following in his bloody footsteps all the way to Golgotha? Surely not nailed to a cross? Some do, I’ve seen it on T.V.

Put into an ambulance and taken to a hospital, Not in Golgatha, how disappointed they must have felt.

Take the lead of Saint Agustine, he confessed Concupiscence, Harmful desire, through involuntary sexual arousal. Much less painful, certainly reasonable, welcomed by a forgiving God.

One could always become a Sufi and whirl oneself closer to God.

Thank you, Dr Mehmet Yildiz and the ILLUMINATION-Curated team for giving my words a platform here at ILLUMINATION-Curated. Thank you all for reading and your precious time. Always. J.