The Elixir of Forgiveness

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Written: September 17, 2025, for contest sponsored by: Kai Michael Neumann Quote: "Forgiveness is the fragrance flowers give when they are crushed". By Rumi ******* Forgiveness is not dulcet or facile— It is a desultory pilgrimage, a diaphanous veil over bruised truths, a furtive lilt in the throat of time. It begins in the inglenook of ache, where erstwhile wounds murmur in penumbra, And ebullience feels as betrayal. There, the soul must dissemble its pride, imbue its scars with emollient grace. The heart, once a halcyon lagoon, now languors in imbroglio and languor, its efflorescence buried beneath elision, It's an effervescent hope, a vestigial moiety. Yet forgiveness arrives, such as petrichor— redolent, evocative, ephemeral. It gambols through the gossamer dusk, a fetching ripple in the future. It is not a panacea, but a palimpsest, a pastiche of pain and propinquity, where even nemesis may become nectar, and sorrowful echoes find serendipity. Forgiveness is the elixir we resist, the embrocation that stings before it soothes. It asks for forbearance, not forgetting, for love, not leisure, for lissome strength. It is the ineffable act of inure— to hold the harm, then allow it to pass. A mellifluous undoing of the pyrrhic, a sumptuous surrender to the soul’s own lilt. So let it be your talisman, your tinkling umbrella in the storm. Forgiveness is not weakness—it is glamour, the quintessential grace that makes us whole.
Copyright © | Year Posted 2025


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Date: 9/17/2025 9:45:00 PM
"So let it be your talisman, your tinkling umbrella in the storm. Forgiveness is not weakness—it is glamour, the quintessential grace that makes us whole." Every line in this poem is beautiful and the concluding stanza is a real gem. Forgiveness is not easy. For it, 'the soul has to dissemble its pride' which is even harder. But the reward will be greater- 'nemesis may become nectar, and sorrowful echoes find serendipity." So very true. Beautiful thoughts dear friend. Your vocabulary stuns !
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Date: 9/17/2025 6:06:00 PM
such wisdom in your poem, Sotto. I appreciate the contrasts/paradoxes that you so masterfully entwined into your lines and verses. Your poetic voice leaves me speechless. Best wishes with the contest, hugs from Texas, Sara
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Date: 9/17/2025 10:24:00 AM
This is a mature, thoughtful poem. Its strength is in refusing to idealize forgiveness, in embracing the tension and paradoxes: that forgiveness is painful, yet beautiful; that it involves remembering; that it’s not immediate but gradual. It feels emotionally honest and stylistically ambitious.
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Date: 9/17/2025 9:19:00 AM
Forgiveness is not easy, but possible. It needs courage, prayer and resolution. I have forgiven many in the past, never easy but I was strong.
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Date: 9/17/2025 5:15:00 AM
And forgiveness from above is the greatest relief of all. As for fellow humans, those holding a grudge hurt themselves. Nice write Mr Sotto
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