Repent
Lawrence S. Pertillar 1947 (Connecticut)
Feeling regret.
Remorse and sorrow.
With a hoping comes a tomorrow,
To shake awake a mind seeking...
A nightmare to live too long being chased,
By demons smiling.
Although evil is displayed.
On faces masquerading to fake,
Themselves to be angels.
As they begin to descend with wings,
Of vultures to notice...
Them attacking the innocent.
To perceive them docile and weak.
Meek!
And easy to defeat!
No one screams.
No one runs.
No one seems to fear this doing done.
To expect it a test of their faith.
And...
It was just that.
An illusion to fear and of it threatened.
Until suddenly,
A nightmare to believe a dreaming of it.
With smiling demons descending from above,
Appearing to be vultures.
Became the meek.
They became docile.
Weakened.
Expressing sorrow.
Wishing to share their anguish and grief.
As if too real this same nightmare to dream it,
Awakened them...
To see a truth they denied themselves to be.
Creatures evil.
Thoughtless.
Without hearts or souls to pretend them had.
Leaving them to sob uncontrollably.
Leaving them grieving.
Without empathy to receive.
In their needing of it bad.
Left abandoned.
When it heard to hear them confess,
An evilness not to suspect but known!
'What is this madness?
What is this nightmare to dream it?'
It's just a fable.
Pull yourself together.
A story told to me to believe it.
But...
I find it to be an incredible coincidence,
How you are able to identify...
Emotionally.
As if this fable has awakened,
A connection you deeply feel too real.
From a past perhaps your ancestors had?
Maybe?
Who knows what it is we all share.
To deceive, lie about and attempt to deny.
'I'm not black.
I wouldn't do that to my own people.
I've been born of mongrel heritage.'
Hey, hey, HEY!
Relax.
Calm down.
It's okay.
Be proud to be...
Whatever it is today you claim you are.
Yesterday you were Asian.
Two weeks before that you were Latino.
And I heard you tell someone,
Your mother was Jamaican and your father?
Native American Indian,
Black and Puerto Rican!
You are a mutt.
'I said...
Mongrel,
Damnit!'
Oh...
Yes.
The rarest of all breeds.
It's alright.
Although...
I will say this.
Someone in your background,
Donated their D.N.A.
And everything else they could.
To bestow you with that rhythm you inherited.
'I will not allow myself to be appalled.
Or patiently tolerate,
In an indulging of your attempts to harass me.'
Oh.
So now you are British!?
You're right.
You represent the entire United Nations!
'What started this?'
Your feelings of guilt.
And a desperate need to repent.
'For what?'
For denying to be who you are.
Whenever it is convenient,
To pass as an emancipating slave owner!
'A...WHAT?'
You heard me!
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Written on August 28, 2023
Submitted by lpahtillah on August 28, 2023
- 2:59 min read
- 4 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | abbcxcxxx xdeffx xghxix i jkxxflibx kxjldmjcxm inx dk lokpxqjixmjxq xlx rxxrjshbhohhp xja Bnx tbuxrxx xxj Bxtg u xx seo j |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 2,679 |
Words | 591 |
Stanzas | 20 |
Stanza Lengths | 9, 6, 6, 1, 9, 10, 3, 2, 13, 3, 13, 3, 3, 7, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 1 |
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"Repent" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 5 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/167412/repent>.
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