You haunt me till I forgive

I have hated you for so long

When you died I cried in fear

Or a release of all the fear I had.

I was still afraid you would come back

That you were not really gone.

I thought sometimes that I saw you around corners

Or in a dark Passage.

Always there was fear.

Years have gone by and you never came I knew you were dead.

I knew as an adult what my child’s heart could not,

That you would never hurt me again.

Then you were here out in the road.

Never near my home

Always outside my territory

A territory that I blessed to be free of fear,

A place of peace and safety.

But there you were

In the road

Waiting for me.

You called to me and I came to you

Never close to you I was still afraid.

All you required of me

All you were asking

Something I did not want to give

Something I needed more than you did.

You asked me to forgive

You asked me to let you go

To stop holding on to my hatred and fear

To let you go

For me to be free.

I turned away

But I stopped and said to you

“I forgive you, I am free.”

You never returned

And I am free.

copyright 2014  Leslie Whitcomb