Bitterness, like some evil intravenous
drips into each day
from a clear bag of memories.
He said, she said,
he did, she did,
he was, she was.
Daily, nightly, a steady dose
poisoning the soul.
Too many times the body convulses
shaken with anger
racked with sorrow
clenched with hatred.
Memory is a shackle
that foils the mind’s best intentions;
“Today I won’t remember.”
“I’ll just stop thinking about this.”
“I refuse to give this power in my life.”
And still the steady drip drip,
the same old symptoms.
Healer of our every ill,
where is your relief?
Time, like God’s gentle nurse,
lays a hand on the mind’s anguish
and inoculates us with grace.
Memories, still clear,
lose their power
as the body builds immunity,
year by year.
We cannot change the past
but peace arrives in time.
I am a Mennonite pastor currently teaching theology at Conrad Grebel University College in Waterloo, Ontario. I’ve served congregations in Ontario and most recently, Alberta.