NaPoWriMo 1: Absolution

White shall not neutralize the black, nor good compensate bad in man, absolve him so: life's business being just the terrible choice.
Robert Browning

Absolve me, teach me, purify me, strengthen me: take me to Thyself, that I may be Thine and Thine only.
Joseph B. Lightfoot

Absolution
The light in the room is
dim and when he looks across
at her she appears grainy
as though she were only a
badly lit photograph.
She is lying tightly curled,
trying to take up less
space so there is nowhere
for pain to sit.
She is his Goddess.
She is both tormenter and
his only hope of absolution.
She can forgive him of
sin with the beckoning of
a silhouetted arm or
condemn him to hell with
the turn of a head to
the wall.
He sits and waits
for her judgement,
for there is no other
choice than to cease
to exist.