Forgive me, Lord, for what I did

Between the hillside and the stream.

Forgive the darkness and the joy

In torn flesh and frightened eyes,

The madness and the burning hate,

The fire that swept within my brain.

O do not let me know again

Myself within another's pain.

I pray into the empty night,

I hold my face between my hands.

No answer comes. No voice replies.

Out of the embers of my faith

There burns a deeper dark of fear,

Within my heart grows hard and strong,

The comfort of a righteous wrong.

All that I did was done for Thee

Forgive my weakness and my shame.

January 1969