Against Wrongs Done Me Poem by Terry Dawson

Against wrongs done me
My spirit raged
Hatred-blinded, I do not see
That lust for vengeance
Keeps my spirit caged.

Calamities I wish upon my foe,
In vivid dreams I see
His fell afflictions grow and grow...
In waking world I hate also;
This thing, I can't leave it be!

All-demanding becomes my ire,
Unstinting do I spend
To fuel the all-consuming fire...
But no fulfillment my heart finds;
In downward spirals I descend.

Now unfurls a new design,
Unscripted lines are spoken,
Up-ending all cruel schemes of mine -
As early death now stalks my halls;
My olden ways are broken.

But spared from death, I behold
The world in different light,
New horizons promise gifts untold.
Sunshine pours like healing balm
Into my long, hate-filled night.

My renewed heart forgives now all
Of him who earned my enmity
Swiftly departs the darkened pall
Of the all-overshadowing cloud;
In that moment I am free!

Glad, unbound, my soul exalts,
My spirit learns to sing
Unencumbered by past faults,
Old fetters cast away,
The crippled bird takes wing!