Remorse Is Not a Synonym for Shame

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Jewish Poems

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High Holy Days

Philosophical
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Copyright by
Nicholas Gordon

Remorse is not a synonym for shame.
One is mainly outer; the other, inner.
So might fear of shame deter a sinner
Hidden 'neath the gilt of a good name.

However, remorse comes from within, a feeling
Arisen from the grave of innocence,
Still haunted by a mystic moral sense
Hemorrhaging a sorrow that is healing.

A fear of shame requires imagination,
Needing an imaginative eye,
As remorse needs an imaginative I
Harrowed by empathic transformation.

Copyright by Nicholas Gordon. Free for personal or non-commercial use.

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