My grandmother prays for me
I,
pause
My mother’s warm embrace,
Mother, I sin
The sheep communicate
They play
And the eyes of black wolves
Watch as they graze
They pray,
The birds drone in
Prayers at the altar for more blessings
Sheep are benevolent
Asking to sin, and sin
Bleeds into the wool
Red, sunken teeth
The hunt is gathering
We kill and we eat
Mother, I’ve sinned
I’ve killed a heart before
And I’ve tasted the flesh of my skin
I pray, every night
My grandmother tells me
That there’s a Devil in yawning
And I smile
At her, a sheep
When I was a few years younger
I sinned
I, along with my friends, like sheep
Ostracized a poor girl,
Who stepped with the wrong foot
And smiled with forgiveness
Mother, I’m afraid
Afraid of eating another human again
I fear the bed because when I close my eyes
I see a witchhunt
And in my dreams, which I pray that I forget,
I see, and watch,
And it’s pain and hurt
What did she feel?
Wolves hunt because they have hunger,
Grandmother, I won’t wake from this bed
I’ll close all the doors
And I’ll surround myself with comforters
Mother, I am tired
Please don’t worry about me
It hurts already
Just let me sleep now
Softly
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142,260 Literary Works • 677,099 Reviews
Hey, Maddox!! I have read ur beautiful work and i personally found the poem Sinner presented a soul chilling exploration of guilt, Christian imagery, and the way cruelty is masked behind innocence. The contrast between the sheep and the wolves was a significant observation for me to understand who the real sinners were and how people could partake in something cruel yet think of themselves as virtuous.
I particularly liked the line “Sheep are benevolent / Asking to sin, and sin / Bleeds into the wool.” It is a horrific realization that the lines between good and evil are blurred...... i found the repetition of prayers interesting, as they seemed to become an instrument that failed the narrator to exonerate themselves from their guilt.
I also liked the addition of the recollection of ostracizing the girl as a manifestation of the narrator’s self condemnation for partaking in the witch hunt....... it gave new meaning to the metaphor of wolves by connecting it with the persecution of an innocent person.
The last lines are heartbreaking, and i could imagine a weary woman longing for some rest. i think the softness of the last lines gave the poem a finishing touch and was a fitting end. Lovely work!!♡
~lilly♡ the fire dragon
As someone who grew up in religion, this is so incredible. This poem makes me want to post more poems about religion, the way that violence in this poem always feels so very soft, because that is the sin. It can be a craving for softness when it demanded we do otherwise. The girl saying the wolves do this because they are hungry but her doing it is so completely different, and how Christians hold themselves to different standards. This is incredible and I hope you enjoyed writing it.
You are so talented!!! I love the way that the whole poem ties together, there's no point missed! Also, the way that you close the poem, it seems to me like the subject has given up from trying to heal the sin. Maybe I am wrong, and if I am I apologize! But still, gorgeous poem!
Hello!! thank you so much for the kind words, I really am happy seeing that you enjoyed my poem. And yes, the ending closes with the subject giving up and being consumed by the weight of their guilt, and personal suffering.