Woman with box in meadow by ryanniel masucol via pexels
Who Are You

The one who robbed you

I have gotten what I deserve.
And it was taken from me.

I have had medals pinned to my chest, been accoladed with praise and money, had foreign sand between my toes, been worshipped as a goddess

in a storied career of carwrecks and homewrecks, gasped prayers bursting over clutched fingers and sweat stolen from other beds, thrumming drums and mead cloaking a fumbling heart, loaves of bread eaten but not tasted, a body moved in hatred, a control-sweet tongue, a mind so sharp it cuts itself.

I have wondered and wandered through tears and terror
listing further and further
bowed lower and lower
pressed down, shaken together, running over
with all I have deserved.

What strange relief to find the burden lifted,
stolen one prize one rite one kiss one bite one word
at a time
all at once,
to collapse under sudden weightlessness
and weep thanks at the feet
of the one who robbed you.


This post is part of Five-Minute Friday. This week’s prompt is DESERVE. If you’d like to join in the fun, click here!

7 thoughts on “The one who robbed you”

  1. Wow!!! “What strange relief to find the burden lifted, stolen one prize one rite one kiss one bite one word
    at a time all at once, to collapse under sudden weightlessness and weep thanks at the feet of the one who robbed you.” Amen to all of this!!! A burden we must not carry anymore!! Deirdre FMF #3

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *