On Seeing Someone Who Once Hurt Me

Jesus said that if you knew that you had hurt another,

http://imgarcade.com/
I wish I had the artist's name,
because this perfectly
captures the memory of
a certain day and conversation.

that the person held some Thing against you,

you should go and make it right. Well.

I saw a man just recently who hurt me years ago,

and though I tried to find a resolution, made the effort 

to effect a bridge from here to there, he never cared 

enough to soothe my ruffled feathers, an expression

that does little to present  the picture right - more like

being plucked and left for dead. I couldn't breathe.

In all these years, you'd think a man (who makes his living

leading congregations into worship and the knowledge

of the Word of God) might somewhere in his prayers

have heard the prompting of the Spirit to go find

the bird he crushed and say he's sorry; he was wrong,

Or even if he couldn't bring himself to that, to show

concern that I was hurt, that at the weakest, worst, most

painful time I'd ever known, he'd hurt me yet some

more. Some gesture, anyway, but no. And when I saw him,

there was nothing in his face that said he knew me,

as if I had disappeared into the mist of his selective

memory so that he never had to deal with me again. 

But there was also nothing in my heart that 

prompted me to linger, say hello, or ask how life is

treating him. I hope that means that I've forgiven him. 

I want to, do not want the man to have an ounce of power 

over me, which unforgiveness and resentment grants.

It may have simply meant that I had better things to do.

(c) Ellen Gillette, 2014

I will be off the grid this weekend, October 31 - November 2, gathering thoughts and memories that will surely find their way into future poems, but I'm giving myself permission not to add a poem a day to the collection; I'll just have to make up for them next week. My access to wireless will be limited ...and doesn't that just sound wonderfully restful?