No Forgiveness Ode

There has been a question running through my mind that has been keeping me awake at night. And that question is: How does a man lose absolutely everything he has, and still continue on. Of course, I could make this personal, but I won't. I could say this man is my father, but I won't. Somewhere in the world there is a man who has lost absolutely everything: his family, his houses, his dignity, his mind. Without a care, it seems. I'm thinking, a man in this situation can't understand his loss. Not can't. But must not understand it. There must be some kind of internal denial that rescues you from understanding the literal loss of everything, the ultimate feeling of loneliness. Just you and a full world of emptiness. May God help a man like this. But what allows me to sleep when this question finally settles is Dean Young's poem "No Forgiveness Ode." It beings:

The husband wants to be taken back into the family after behaving terribly

And then all those little, important reminders:

1. but nothing can be taken back

2. some shrapnel remains in the wound, some mud.

3. The heart needs its thorns

4. Just because you've had enough doesn't mean you wanted too much

And the greatest reminder of all:

5. No Forgiveness Owed

Read the poem in its entirety here: http://www.poetry365.com/2008/12.html

Thank you Dean Young, for a brilliant, brilliant poem and for allowing me to get some sleep.