The Kingdom of Forgive

Father, forgive them for they know not what they do,

sayeth the Son, and in the Kingdom of Forgive,

these are the words for the people who commit

“the evil that we do”; words for the blunt-nosed herd

bludgeoning the shepherd.

For the Kingdom of Forgive is about abandonment—

abandonment by the flock of him, and him by the Father.

Such loneliness!—the expanse of every parable

spread over the heart like a blanket of ash. How desolate the cry!

Who are they really, these sheep? These fetid creatures born

to bleat, blare, bruise the head? They cannot hear;

the cloven hoof is in their yellow eye, and they are

deaf to words. Forgiveness will not touch them.

But yours as always is a kingdom—generous and beyond

understanding—and they who do not recognize you,

work, alas, as assassins for the King.

~Sally Ito