Confession

Some sins merely sting.
Slight-seeming shortcomings, they
inflict but brief burn--
easily soothed with a
salve of self-sufficiency.

Some sins scald.
Singeing beyond skin’s surface, they
scorch the self’s very center,
stir again the sobering sense of
the soul’s insolvency.

Both sting and scald leave scars.
These marks tell the truest truth:
skin and soul
flesh and spirit
beg for Balm.

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