Forgive Me

THE POET ASKS FORGIVENESS
by
Fay Zwicky

Dead to the world I have failed you
Forgive me, traveller.
Thirsty, I was no fountain
Hungry, I was not bread
Tired, I was no pillow
Forgive my unwritten poems:
the many I have frozen with irony
the many I have trampled with anger
the many I have rejected in self-defence
the many I have ignored in fear
unaware, blind or fearful
I ignored them.
They clamoured everywhere
those unwritten poems.
They sought me out day and night
and I turned them away.
Forgive me the colours
they might have worn
Forgive me their eclipsed faces
They dared not venture from
the unwritten lines.
Under each inert hour of my silence
died a poem, unheeded

September is a time for change. The summer is over and school begins again -- reminding us of time and order. Some will begin a new career. Some -- a new ministry.  Others will just begin, again.
There are new possibilities with September.  Yet, I am reminded that it is the month for Yom Kippur in which the Jewish peoples ask for forgiveness from God and others.  This requires humbling oneself before God and others.  It is, also, the first of monthly themes that will be explored in worship at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Kern County, Bakersfield, where I serve as minister.

Forgiveness. It’s a difficult concept to fully
grasp. Not so easy to do.

In the aforementioned poem by Fay
Zwicky, a Jewish writer, she asks for
forgiveness for the poet within. She
apologizes for not writing and ignoring the
poems that were clamoring to be written. I
wonder, at this time of change, what might
we forgive of ourselves so we can begin,
again. What have you left undone? What
part of you is clamoring to be expressed?

For me, it is writing more. For me, it is
sending my manuscript to a publisher, and
facing possible rejection. Can I forgive
myself for ignoring the muse within? Can
I forgive myself for not sending the
manuscript yet? Can I begin, again, and
face this time of change with wonder and
open arms -- open to the possibilities of
transformation when I forgive myself?

May your September be filled with
forgiveness and new beginnings,
Summer