There are things for which an honest Knight
must pay in penance —
though none will ever know the cause but he,
and none will know the price paid to be free.
He knows the fateful fact that such a burden
is inherent to his sufferance willingly.

For every peccadillo carries
forfeits to be paid in kind.
It’s called “accountability”.
And in the burden (so I find)
there is responsibility
in which the bigger sin there is
the more must thus be paid.
This is the sacred trade.

Like monks of old who whipped themselves
with flagellation’s cursed stripes
(although their self-made punishment
denied the grace of God),
that serves, at least, as if it was an archetype,
though it does not portray with accuracy
the dusty cobbled road I’ve trod.

And if you say to me that Jesus paid the price
therefore there is no need for penance to be paid,
I will reply that just because He made that sacrifice
does not negate the fact that humanly His children
still may undergo tellurian chastisement.
For, despite God’s grace,
He sometimes throws some fleshly shade
and some might even come in uppercase.

For example, even though a criminal who’s been
convicted of his crime, should he repent
and ask God for forgiveness, he will still be punished
by the force of human law and thus pay penance
in another way — this is the burden that he bore.

And so every single one who’s been forgiven
by the God of grace and grace of God,
can be reproved by His chastising rod.
Even a no-name, twice-born Knight like me
can know the sting of penance through flagellatry.
I brought it on myself through folly on my part
by fastening the horse behind its proper cart.

.

.

.

© Copyright, Alan Morrison, 2025
[The copyright on my works is merely to protect them from any wanton plagiarism which could result in undesirable changes (as has actually happened!). Readers are free to reproduce my work, so long as it is in the same format and with the exact same content and its origin is acknowledged]

.