Patience

[Dark Muse]

The next installment for the Dark Side of Virtue

Patience

Broken and battered
at the bottom of the stairs
with a face painted in shades
of blue, eyes rimmed
with red.

Slowly picking herself up
off the cold stone tile,
upon her knees offering
forgiveness.

She has been here before,
picking up scattered teeth
with eyes cast down,
head bowed.

Turning the other cheek
one thousand times before,
incapable of hate
she gives only full devotion.

Swallowing her misery
she seeks no mercy for herself,
only offers her heart, soul and body
served upon a silver platter.

[hillwalker]

Not a pretty picture - but thanks for continuing your trawl through the virtues and sharing it with us.

Regarding the subject, Patience, and the 'reverse side of the coin', I was expecting something a bit different, I'll be honest. Perhaps because this shows the aftermath of someone who has suffered more through another person's impatience than through their own blind tolerance?? I don't know.

Just a thought.... ignore it by all means.....

[Dark Muse]

In explaining my subject of this poem for patience, as far as the virtue of patience goes, it is meant to be the opposite side of wrath, and is not patience in the way we understand the word in the practical secular sense, but refers particularly to non-violence, pacifism, showing mercy and forgiveness.

So the idea was to show someone who was forgiving and passive to the utmost extreme, offering mercy to the most undeserving of individuals, and even in the face of their own senseless pain, unwilling to raise a hand in their defense but passively acepts thier fate.

[Bar22do]

It's still more for me like a self-sacrifice, ongoing. Patience drawback could be more when one is over-patiently, passively waiting for another do develop say a skill, or a trait of character, or else, where the appropriate attitude would be for instance to take steps, actively encourage, etc...
Still, as it is, it's nice and a pleasure to follow in the continuation with other of your virtues shadows! Thanks for your thought and persistence - Bar

[Dark Muse]

But Patience as a virtue refers directly to an attitude of non-violence, and reflects the whole idea of turning the other cheek, and to me that is a self-sacrificing attitude, especially when taken to the extreme.

[Bar22do]

In other words, we could re-think Patience... it seems to be perceived individually, and felt differently according to our inner set of references or -- projections or --- experience etc... which makes it all even more interesting to be confronted with your words, so thanks again! Bar

[hillwalker]

Thanks DM for your patience (!) in explaining what I failed to see on first reading. And now the poem makes mch better sense.... thanks again.