Forgiveness Poem by Linda Engwall

Forgiveness can be a funny business
It has arms that reach beyond
Who we are meant to forgive
Or who we plead forgiveness from
Tangled together
Hard to know where the one starts
And the other one ends

Could it be we are all in need of little absolution
From one another
We move along in this world
As well as we can
Mistakes are many
All around

So what benefit do we gain
From withholding our forgiveness
For those who inflicted pain on us

Can any one of us honestly say we have
Not caused a single misery to another
So the decision has to be ours alone
Release or hold tight to our righteous

The battle is within I know
To not live my life as this illusion of purity
But as a humbled, forgiving,
unpretentious human being
Struggling to get it right
Each and every day