Mercy Poem by RIC BASTASA

mercy is the good lady who looks
at you not with the merit of what you have done

she probes the contours of your heart and when she finds
the purity of your intentions
the goodness which is hidden from the pressures of your world

unlike justice that records all your wrongs and metes the penalties
mercy takes you with her compassionate hands
and smiles at you with her lips of forgiveness
she kisses you and tells you
you are saved