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...
That cruel act, you called it small,
A moment passed, a careless flame,
You walked away, stood tall, unbent,
Unknowingly, someone wept because of you.
You acted as if you did not hear their midnight cry,
Nor see the tear you left behind,
But sorrow learns the shape of guilt
And follows closely, and grips the mind.
It trails you through the waking hours,
Sits heavy in your silent room,
No mercy in its patient tread,
A shadow stretching into doom.
You laugh, you run, you change your face,
Yet still it breathes upon your neck,
For pain once born by human hands
Do not forget, do not neglect.
Only forgiveness breaks the chain,
Only truth unmakes the scar,
Yet God alone knows where they dwell,
How distant now, how far they are, how far.
So guilt becomes a lifelong prayer,
A searching heart with broken sight,
Until you kneel and truly seek
The soul you wounded in the night.
For wounds ignored will rule your days,
A sentence written by your own hand,
This is the doom you gave to yourself.
When mercy is what you need from God.
© 2026 Gloria Penelope
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