Before the Weighing
Inspired by Jane Hirshfield’s The Weighing.
Quietly now,
divide your heart and
feed the lioness
before justice comes.
It might not be the usual way.
It is a way.
Feed her the coins
you took from the fountain,
feed her the innocent face
plastered over guilt.
Feed her the Fs and the Cs,
especially the Cs,
break them away.
Feed her your stolen moments,
and see if she will eat
that time when the door closed
and you never made it past the stairs.
That one is hard to swallow.
Quickly now,
justice is coming!
Break off that slap.
It was never needed,
neither were the words that woman said,
and you held on to,
throw them down.
Quickly, there is no time
to divide your petty judgements,
your anger, your greed,
the times you covered your ears,
and the times you turned your head,
so, tear off a chunk.
There!
There is little left but enough
and perhaps you shan’t outweigh
her feather.
Cara L McKee stays in Largs, Scotland, and works in her local library. Places her poems have been include The Dawntreader, The Interpreter’s House, and 404 Ink, and there’s one coming soon in the Dove Tales anthology.