Washed Away
Cool cleansing water running over me,
washing away my sins, my impurities,
Cleaning me up, getting rid of the villainy
and lack of chastity.
Absolving me.
But who’s to say they should be washed away
like the scruffiness of childhood innocence.
Who should judge these scents and tastes and sweats
of a life cleanly and clearly remembered.
What sins, what villainy?
I wished they could remain unwashed and pure
retaining their essence within my reach.
Hanging about me in my lived in face.
A testament to my life, an affirmation.
It didn’t take much water to remove them.
But I was already clean.
I can remember.
First published in Snapdragon “Your Wild And Precious Life”, September 2015
Survivor
I am not sure how I did it,
how I survived
a lucky chance
maybe,
but here I am
still
standing
straight
against the wind,
the hot, hot wind
which has turned the soil
into rippling sand
the rippling sand
of the unwashed desert.
I am not sure how I did it
and I am not sure how long
I can stay here
standing
alone
in the rippling sand
of the unwashed desert.
First published in The Beautiful Space, August 2019
Check Out This Artist:
Lynn White
https://lynnwhitepoetry.blogspot.com
https://www.facebook.com/Lynn-White-Poetry-1603675983213077/
