This I Give For You
What is forgiveness?
Is it something you wake up with?
Perhaps one Sunday morning you arise
and think ‘I forgive you,’
Or does it evolve over a long period of time,
something which starts as a seed and blooms in the heart?
If so how long would it take?
You begged me for forgiveness.
You said that you felt the weight of guilt
heavily hanging over you.
But should guilt be forgiven or punished?
Can I forgive you for what you have done?
Will I ever be able to?
Will I ever be able to say the words
I
forgive
you
I forgive you.
There. I said it.
Now take it and leave.
J. Kidd
In Munro’s story I found it quite surprising that Flora didn’t have a problem with the relationship between Robert and Nurse Atkinson because throughout the story it had been suggested that Flora and Robert might have a romantic relationship. I wrote this poem from Flora’s point of view. She is telling him to go and with it showing her own strength of self which consistently comes out through the story. Forgiveness as theme was interesting because people may forgive each other even if they don’t really mean it and I wanted to explore the idea of spoken forgiveness vs true forgiveness.
