Mercy came knocking once, a pale wanderer draped in dawn, with weary eyes and gentle hands, carrying no sword, only the burden of understanding. But the wicked knew not her face. Their hearts were citadels of stone, where compassion died unnamed and every wound became a weapon. They barred the gates. For mercy is a stranger in the hearts of the wicked. She walks their halls unseen, a ghost among shadows, whispering of forgiveness to ears that worship vengeance. They drink from poisoned wells and call bitterness wisdom. They sharpen grief into blades and wear cruelty like a crown. Where mercy offers a bridge, they build a wall. Where mercy kneels, they strike. And so she leaves quietly, taking her light with her, while darkness settles deeper into chambers already cold. The wicked do not fear mercy, they fear what mercy reveals: that beneath their iron masks, beneath their kingdoms of pride, beneath the ruins they call strength, there lives a trembling truth they dare not face. For merc...
Failure upon failure
like waves that never learn mercy,
each one rises higher than the last,
crashing into what little I managed to build.
Trials come as fire,
not the kind that warms,
but the kind that hunts,
burning beginnings before they can breathe.
Dreams turn to smoke,
plans to blackened bones.
Morning arrives without promise,
Tomorrow is an empty word,
Hope is a language I no longer speak.
I wake only because sleep lets me go.
Every finger points in my direction
sharp, accusing, certain.
They do not ask what I carried.
They only measure what I dropped.
In their eyes, I am the lesson,
the warning, the mistake.
I feel like a victim in my own life,
trapped inside a story
Others narrate with cruel confidence.
Even my strength is questioned,
Even my silence is judged.
I searched the ruins for light,
but found only echoes of who I was.
Faith feels foolish here,
Prayers fall like stones, unanswered.
All hope seems lost,
buried beneath ash and blame,
beneath fires that never taught me how to rise_
only how to burn.
© 2026 Gloria Penelope
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