Author's Note: I'm fascinated with the concept of self-punishment. The fact that someone can take it upon themselves to pay a (often more severe) price for a transgression. This poem was actually backlogged for a really long time but I figured I'd make this my first post of the year! Enjoy? (I think that's what you guys do)
Penance.
Don't forgive my sins for me,
Hell is where I deserve to be,
Never understood right from wrong,
Demons plagued me all along,
But I let them in.
You know this to be true,
I'm hateful, spiteful and judgmental,
Don't care for anything,
Can't care for anything,
I hide from the world and snarl at intruders,
A rabid dog, that's never put down,
Don't understand me and comfort me,
I'll pay my dues.
I think you did a great job of capturing the psychological errors that cage the people who fall victim to self-punishment. The way you write about it makes it less about the punishment, and more about the feelings that cause it; possessed by some evil force, plagued by some rabid disease, perplexed with apathy. I think there is a peacefully morbid resolution that just accepts the path of destruction and resists all help because of not feeling worthy of help or change which comes back to the literary embodiment of the psychological issues. Great piece, John!
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