Poem: Hope Falters

My heart is heavy
My soul clouded
With grief and shame.
You betrayed your trust
Used your power
For a dark end.
Though I could never condone
I have hoped
For redemption
For change.
Yet when we meet
Signs abound
Red alerts
Blare in my mind.
You ask
For news
Of a community you hurt.
News
You now have no right to.
You boast
Of how many you talk to.
How many
Have forgiven your harm.
I look back
Can’t help but wonder
Whether encouragement to leave
Was for my benefit
Or yours.
Whether you feared
My knowledge of you
Of community
And the events therein.
I see now
That I
Who felt assured
In knowledge of power
And of human weakness
Have been blind to too much.
I hold onto hope
That you can change
Can find redemption.
The question now is:
Can you find that path
With me walking alongside?
Or
Must I step away
Let you find it alone
So that you may realize
The price to be paid?