Best Penance Poems

Under the shade of that proliferous maple tree we'd named
  I'd given you a piece of my naive exuberant heart
   when I handed over a fragment of shimmering red ribbon
     I still remember your reluctant smile masking paranoia

...

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Ottava Rima was made to recite
all ten commandments at the next high mass.
In her very private room she did write
them again and again just like in class.
By candlelight she stayed up every night
reading aloud with not a hint of sass.

She read them at mass; the...

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She smiled
An ambient temperature smile
At best
A torqued acknowledgement.

The paper shrieked
Eraser burn and frustration
Testing the limits
Of its tortured muse.

Again
Words kissed the atmosphere
Glided on meter
Danced in a rhythmic dream.

Again
She smiled
A tear, a whispered
“I love you”

Embracing her gift
I wondered:
“Would you love me If I wasn’t a poet?”...

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To what profound penance owe you this boon, O! Yashotha! Translation of Oothukkadu Venkata Subbha Iyer’s enna thavam seithanai – yashOthA by T. Wignesan

To what profound penance owe you this boon, O! YashOthA! ®

That He – the ParaBrahmman – who bestrides the Universe
Should call you...

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I hated you for your iron, 
cracking and slipping through my 
own disaster, 
weeping,
engraving linoleum into my bones and joints
and praying to stand but never having the heart.

You shoved my face into the wall so many times-
forcing my skin under your fingernails while you smiled-
I...

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Pele's home rumbles within the dome -- I came to atone.
What was I then; what am I now? Dominance lost, so ashamed, 
a man I'd been, a King on a throne -- now powerless a woman, a crone.
To the womb I return, to grow and...

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Time, tick, tock, life passing by
Sit the day contemplating why
Kick the slippers off go to bed
Dreams are dark tears are shed

Sorrow's pillow is not kind
Distance far for peace of mind
In the head the words wage war
As at my soul the sins they tore

Blue eyes where...

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While the havoc  of this cold January night
Grinds like fractured  pieces and shards in my bosom --
My own  penance still remains with a  transgression
Forgotten not--  when my being righteous made you stray--

Yet, your grace to understand my intent humbles me
Taking...

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innocent cents are found in the essence of patience
good riddance of stolen cents is the essence of repentance
the essence of repentance is to sow in the soul penance...

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A slumped of sleep knee deep covenant breath of token, 
Dark horse past that of a crown with holds such stories, 
Is ice heavy or is it when chipping of the pressure that unlocks the dripping of a well, 
If stream is it hollow or...

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Walking this sod trodden path
Heart in my mouth;cross on my shoulder
To that place where remission thou art
Where I could pour out my heart.
Shoulder cross;heavy boulder
I string up like a soldier
Walking to a court martial
Knowing a verdict to be partial

Ran my race like a lion
Never giving...

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Give your pain to me,
I'll take it with great pleasure.
Let it build so all can see 
That torment's become my treasure
Once it's gone, you'll be reborn,
While I'll be cast down as a sinner.
I'll be a product of hate and scorn,
And my body will grow thinner.
Shove...

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When the sun rose after a night
And touched the earth to spread the light
Of joy, of dreams.
I borrowed the warmth of a smile
From my lips
And stole a twinkle 
From my eyes,
To light a heart I thought was dark
With a secret, one scarcely could mark.

But alas!...

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Who was the one paragon in design, 
With the sunset skylined aura divine, 
These tepid wicked hearts soaked deep in brine, 
casting out shadows held lost in time, 
Malice always open through those blinded eyes,
Hushed whispers speak of vulgar tales and lies, 
One gilded chalice...

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Don't you see what you'll be?

What is possible

Set you free.

When doubt runs the game

The days are the same

Fix on a worry

Pass off the blame.

Can't you see what king you are?

Stepped from your kingdom

Once too far.

When the crow flies by night

You're lost in your way

You sell...

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