Letter from a Friend
by Debra Townley
I won’t ask you to listen to me.
To hear my story.
To try to understand what led me here and kept me against my will.
I won’t ask you to overlook my shortcomings.
I won’t ask for forgiveness.
For support with food or clothing or water to drink and bathe.
I won’t ask for a place to sit.
A warm place to come in from the painful cold or a rescue from the blazing sun.
I won’t ask for your money.
I won’t ask for your time.
I won’t ask for acceptance.
Or that you tolerate my wailing in the night.
I won’t ask for a chance.
A new beginning.
A life worth living.
I cannot ask because it is too late for me.
Please.
Hear them.
Love them.
Welcome them back into community.
It is not too late for them.
