Forgiveness Totem
Tree give me shade to rest tired memories,
a bench to watch the world lap up my past
a shaded pathway to reawaken, to colour,
a child’s desire to escape foul memories.
Eagle, tell me to recover, to hunt anew
in the majesty of the sky, to soar unhurt,
in cloaking to shield elements of my soul
in its shedding, be thrice honoured anew.
Salmon, travel the rivers and seas home,
so that we may all be siblings in our sorrow,
so in the rebirth at the source, we can swim
so that a new honour can find its own home.
Orca, let our homage swirl past your eye,
to play with your cousins, in their great joy,
to allow the inner child out to romp in glee
to a tune that dries the tears in sorrow’s eye.
Say we all,
so we can heal,
learn in grace.
Kennet Benoît-Hutchins
About this poem
I lived in British Columbia for many years, loved walking in its forests: which in part gave incentive to the following.
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Written on December 25, 2008
Submitted by Kennet on December 26, 2021
Modified on March 25, 2023
- 50 sec read
- 256 Views
Quick analysis:
| Scheme | AXBA CXXC DBXD EXXE XXX |
|---|---|
| Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
| Characters | 772 |
| Words | 169 |
| Stanzas | 5 |
| Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 3 |
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"Forgiveness Totem" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 22 Nov. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/116563/forgiveness-totem>.
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