Lit-zine
JU
Jac Shortland
Forgiveness
What He Does Not Know is:
(after Dennis O`Driscoll)
That he will never audition for X-Factor.
That the X-Factor he is especially loved for lies in an extra chromosome.
That the chromosome 21 has nothing to do with his twenty-first.
That, even at twenty-one, he will still be classed as a vulnerable adult.
That when he is forty he will look like an old man.
That by then his small sister will be his primary carer.
That this is a constant worry for his mam.
That his mam was heartbroken when she had him.
That his birth was a turning point, in life, for his dad.
That the song his dad sang, at his brother’s wedding, was about him.
That it will never be his turn for the wedding.
That it will never be his turn to sing on the telly.
Next Day's Motto? a Pantoum
the motto for today is “sex is okay."
it’s normal to want to go to bed together.
despite our disabilities we're adults, they said.
we can have a relationship; that's what we learned today.
it’s normal to want to go to bed together,
to want kissing and touch
and we can have a relationship, that’s what I heard anyway.
not like before when, because of our minds,
to want kissing and touch
was inappropriate, they called it.
not like before when, because of our minds
we couldn't make a safe choice, they told us.
but it’s not inappropriate; that’s what we learned today.
they’ll show us how to use condoms
and then we can make a safe choice, they told us.
they’ll answer our questions the next day, they said.
they’ll show us how to use condoms.
despite our disabilities we’re adults, they said.
they’ll answer our questions the next day, they said.
“sex is okay”; that’s the motto for today.
Forgiveness.
Forgiveness is not about forgetting.
It is nothing to do with doing the right thing.
Forgiveness comes because it wants to.
Forgiveness is not about making up.
It’s not about how we think things should be.
Forgiveness comes because it wants to.
We’ve heard resentment festers from inside,
the Worm in the Apple, the Poisoned Tree.
So too, forgiveness works intrinsically.
Forgiveness needs to run its course.
It cannot be surgically induced.
Forgiveness comes because it wants to.
Forgiveness will not be hurried or forced,
It feels no pressure to pardon outright.
Forgiveness comes because it wants to.
Jac Shortland is an Irish woman, from Cork. Her life’s work has been with young people, who have Intellectual Disabilities, empowering with touch therapy, yoga, dance and creative self expression. She runs her ‘Blessings’ workshops, locally. Her poetry can be seen in a diversity of journals and anthologies and she is a regular reader at O’Bheal. She is especially proud to have been shortlisted for the Fish Poetry Prize 2017. Her poems reflect the mind of a woman, who hasn’t yet made her mind up about any of life’s mysteries and most likely never will.
