Oh, How It Hurt

Oh, how it hurt

That refusal

That rebuff

Cut and wounded

I withdrew

Licked my wounds

Plastered my sores

Bandaged my cuts

My bruises cold-iced

My shame . . .
Yes, in truth,
Perhaps it was
More shame
Than a broken heart

 Pride undermined
Ego squashed
That doesn’t help
Because
There is more shame
In it being shame.

 I see that now …
And am ashamed.

William Blake … ‘Mired in Sin and Shame – Original Sin’