Litany

What gets you most is the
silence.
As in a tomb;

As in a desert at the world's end
where the flowers of past joys
wither and fade as the dust falls.

What really hurts is the
loneliness.
As of a leper;

As of a stranger in a land of plenty
who has no language for
the things she needs nor coin to buy them.

What knocks you down is the
rejection.
As to an enemy;

As to a suitor, loving but unloved,
forbidden, fearful, sacrificed
upon the altar of remembered fault.

What keeps you going is your own
stubbornness.
As of a rock;

As of a boxer, bloodied, bowed,
refusing to go down,
drawing strength from the value of the prize.

Kim Helen James
16/5/95