"Pray you now, forget and forgive" (William Shakespeare, King Lear)
*Photo by João Martins Pereira, "Tango"
"Forgiveness is the mental and/or spiritual process of ceasing to feel resentment, indignation or anger against another person for a perceived offense, difference or mistake, or ceasing to demand punishment or restitution. (...) Forgiveness may be considered simply in terms of the person who forgives, in terms of the person forgiven and/or in terms of the relationship between the forgiver and the person forgiven. (...)It may be granted without any expectation of compensation, and without any response on the part of the offender (...)."
in Wikipedia
Villanelle for the Middle of the Way
When we first love, his eyes reflect our own;
When mirrors change to windows we can see;
Seeing, we know how much is still unknown.
Was it a trite reflection? What is shown
When we gaze deep begins the mystery:
When we first love, his eyes reflect our own.
Neither of us could cast the first stone,
And to forgive is tender. "Now", thought we,
"Seeing, we know". How much was still unknown
We later learnt. But by forgiveness grown -
As Blake discovered - apt for eternity,
Though in first love his eyes reflect our own.
What was the crime for which you would atone
Or could be crime now between you and me
Seeing we know how much is still unknown?
I know you now by heart not eyes alone,
Dearer the dry than even the green tree.
When we first love, his eyes reflect our own,
Seeing, we know how much is still unknown.
poem by Anne Ridler
