First cut is deepest,
they claim, but what do they know?
Second is killing.

(Fooled once, fooled twice
No doubt who is the fool
Dagger hits the clown’s red nose)

More than a handful
Yet not enough
Refused – refuses – to say when

Who am I
To forgive?
Who am I
To be forgiven?

Leaving the mouth
Not half as bitter, though shining,
As staining the ground

A blind faith. Or sloth.

Outcome rarely differs.