*****
Back among the Hebrews
In the holy days of old
Things went differently than
Perhaps we have been told
Consider, just for instance,
The concept known as “sin”
When the word itself was just
Beginning to begin
Before the crucifixion
Before auto da fe
Before the endless holy wars
Took Europe’s sons away
Before interrogations
And ostracising fear
Its definition other was —
I’ll tell it to you here:
It hadn’t one damn thing to do
With damning any soul
For a mistake we all could make
(Or one equally droll)
— For he or she whose prudency
Allows them safe to stay
From presence of a lie
May also turn the truth away
Those who stay open to a truth,
Upon the other hand,
The probability of which
They don’t yet understand,
Run the risk of staying
Open just a bit too long
And for a moment, getting something
Right that’s really wrong —
All our “virtues” ought to be
Known as “balances” —
Its in the middle that we meet
As the old saying says
To name a “sin” reflected, then,
An understanding that
We’re just a bunch of pickles in
The same vinegar vat
We sink or swim together
Together starve or feed
No happy person wants to steal
The things that they might need
And folks who are relaxing
In love’s misty afterglow
Do not the urge to mess
Their brothers with easily know
The word “sin” didn’t mean
That you were condemned to fry
Short, medium or longer-term
In sulphur, pitch and lye
Here’s what it meant to them
(You might like it better too),
Denoting what, to me, is
A more balanced point of view:
To them it only meant: This time,
You fell short of the mark
Focused a little left or right
Chipped off a little bark
Got information needed to
Your next attempt better appoint
In short, my brother, all it meant
Was that you’d “missed the point!”
*****
The poet/editor of this website is physically disabled, and lives at a fraction of her nation’s poverty level. Contributions may be made at:https://www.gofundme.com/are-you-a-patron-of-the-arts
