Wrongs

This morning David Stringer read me a poem he had revised, and after I asked, he sent it to me. It struck me as the perfect piece for ending the year 2008. In pagan rites New Year's eve was accompained by bon fires--that symbolically burned away the evil in order to usher in a new year. Perhaps this image is exactly right as we let go what we should never hold on to in the first place, and allow the new to unfold. Blessings to all in this burning.

Wrong has no sustaining
power – it cannot forever

be. It hasn’t enough
shadow to sustain its

lifelessness. It is pretense,
leaning on a past, refusing

to let go and be forgiven.
It will not be forgotten.

It is life’s long howl against
the self. It is the barrier,

broken belief. See sorrow
stealing from tomorrow,

clutching to choke promise.
Lies, prevarication quibbling

at the corner of truth. Regret
is its bloodthirsty revelry.

--Te Anu, New Zealand, 17 February 2006