; I am a sinner, and yet your daughter nonetheless

In the tempest of your words, 

I cannot help but search for your God.

Am I a product of your shame?

Do you wish for me to hold abounding grace

when you say my body holds no refuge,

not even worthy of His name?

If I were mended by the Lord’s glory,

would you tender my hands?

the ones full of pestilence,

and a mouth that wounds the flesh?

Would you still love me as I am?

Is there a place of belonging in this house of God—

a room neatly made,

a place where you can finally hold me tight. 

There is a girl who falls short in your mercy,

she purifies her heart 

saying, “Oh mother, be kind to this vessel”

but the mother refuses to falter.

And so the girl kisses her mother’s hand once more

knowing that she is first a sinner, 

then a daughter 

who weeps at her own troubled heart.