"In Remembrance" by Merrijane Rice

Pain is universal, pedestrian even.

You walk a strait path, grasp the iron rod, skirt precipice edges —

then rejection sneaks up, bayonets from behind, and saunters off wiping the blade.

In the aftermath, helpful folks salve your wounds with, …..This happens to everyone.

So you stitch it up clean and tight, and wait for tides of ache to subside.

But years later, you sometimes neglect to be careful — you stretch till the scar pulls, ……..here’s where I tore twinges, ….I wish I’d never burns, …….why do I still

and you wonder, not if God loves you, but

if He hung from the cross, scraping breath after breath, willing heartbeats just long enough to heal every unearned sorrow along with all the world’s sins —

if He promised to remember them no more —

…..Why can’t I forget?

This piece was published in 2014 as part of the 3rd Annual Mormon Lit Blitz by the Mormon Lit Lab. Sign up for our newsletter for future updates.