for mary oliver

I know you said that I don’t

Don’t have to be good

Don’t have to walk on my knees

Repenting

But when I was a kid

I was told that I did

And I’ve walked on my knees for 36 years 

Now they are full of sharp wood splinters and broken glass shards

Constant, painful reminders of the ways that I need saving 

What do you mean I am whole just as I am?