Restorative Justice

I’m
Wrapping you a gift
so that the picture of you and I
taken so long ago
is fully developed
In renewed faith
And hoping you find
It
in
Joy

Joy period
Not joy
Comma
But everlasting joy
That needs no reason
Nor an excuse
But joy

Wrapped in the faith that I shoved in a bag
And left homeless
on your doorstep
Many nights ago

That faith didn’t belong to you,
So I must reclaim it
But this joy does.

I gift you
All that I have left
To give
So that one day
You may finally feel
The love that was always there
And smile

I am releasing you
From your failures
Because no matter how
Much I wanted otherwise
You are only a man
And I am only a woman
And even if I am not your woman

I am mine.
And His.

I gift you
All the love
That we had
And all the love
That never had us

I release you from doing penance for
the sins of a human heart

I am lovingly
Tenderly
Restoring
you to the man you were
The first time you looked at me
And said, “You are so beautiful”
With hopeful hands

I am wading through

Every shared laugh
And tender moment
Offering the cold thirst
In my palms
In the spirit of reconciliation
And love

You see,
it was never about me
And I forgot that.

After many nights
Of hating you
Loving you
Missing you
crying for you
Wondering
Wishing
Kissing your fading face in my dreams
I finally
Have taken to my knees
And prayed

That you find
Joy
That you are loved
That God is merciful

That love lasts beyond the longing

That the spirit is saved
And enters into rest

And, that you are blessed.