The blessing of distance
by Gail
If there were a God untainted in my thoughts,
a Being free from gleeful cruelty,
I would thank that one
for the blessing of your distance
from the horrors of my childhood.
The belt will never hit your skin;
you will never know the shapes
of fear within the narrow closet;
you will never look at knives
with longing and desire.
I would offer flowers at that altar,
grains or cattle or my blood--
whatever such a Deity would take
in payment for the parents that you had,
for the thoughts we cannot share.
