(always a work in progress)
The Pebble of Betrayal
She keeps a pebble in her pocket
from a time when she felt
useless, discarded – a cast-off.
Hurling insults at her like stones,
they never questioned the reason
she was leaving such a perfect role.
She picked up their stones, one by one,
and tossed them into the sea.
As the stones sank and the ripples spread,
she simply walked away.
She keeps a pebble in her pocket
and each time she touches it,
she remembers them.
(17 February 2015 at Writers’ Circle, Scarborough)
The poem is deeply connected to my emotions around letting go and moving on, probably due to my impending retirement. A change of theme at the Sacred Space Prayer Station (images below) put things into perspective for me. As two of us arranged our interpretation of ‘The Purse of Betrayal’ for the 1st week of Lent, the tomb (death) and butterfly (resurrection) seemed to mirror my emotions – thus marking the start of my journey through Lent for this year. For me personally, this is about letting go of negativity (death) in order to allow positivity a prominent place in my thoughts (resurrection).
Sacred Space is really important to me. It keeps me focused on Jesus and reminds me that he is only a prayer away… whatever emotions I am experiencing.
(18th February 2015 at Sacred Space, Burniston Methodist Church)
Dear Julie
I was very moved and inspired by your poem and by your openess and honesty.
Much love
Rosie
X
I appreciate your response Rosie – it means a lot.
God bless x
powerful emotion through the verse. I don’t care for the line “she was leaving such a perfect role” as I find it too obtuse to plot. Enigmatic is OK but if you leave the line as written, you ought to give more about the circumstances
I understand where you’re coming from with that comment but I chose not to reveal the role as I wanted to leave it open to interpretation on a personal level for the reader, ie, the reader can put their own role in that place and ponder the words in that respect – so it becomes more real for them personally. Another reason I chose not to reveal it is because I’m not ready to… betrayal is always a work in progress, as I said at the onset. Maybe by the end of my journey through Lent I will be ready to tell all – but then again, maybe not.