Redemption

Trudging down the lurid yellow hallway

out of breath;

Fear takes residence in my chest

and my heart is in a rout

Grasping for the brass door-handle

that never quite learned to open all the way

Entering the hushed silence

Of that peculiar commune

Questions sear away my flesh

and kind words pierce my skin

The lacerations of empty faces

stop my heart

And then we are alone, together

as sinners' torment fills the walls

My armour falls away before him

and I am naked in my shame and misery

I fall upon my knees

and beg a void for mercy

and he lifts up His countenance

to shine upon me.