Forgiveness

[Tiger the Lion]

Thanks for the feedback. I appreciate what you have said, and I understand. I truly appreciate you taking the time to read it and analyze it.

What I will say in response is that I guess it comes down to "the purpose" of a poem, not poems in general, but each individual poem (at least in my opinion). This poem is declarative ... it is a mantra of sorts, and as such no ambiguity or vagueness or cleverness suits that purpose. It "needs" to be straightforward, it needs to flow off the tongue when read aloud or recited (I wanted it to be easy to memorize). I hope that it is something that anyone who is struggling with forgiveness (or has struggled in the past with it) can grasp a hold of. It emerged from my unconsciousness in my own struggles with forgiveness.

I completely understand. I hope my critique didn't come off as too harsh. And you are correct, the purpose of this poem is clarity. It's saying something straight. Clarity and affirmation. Which it does perfectly and succinctly—as I said the cliches aren't necessarily a good thing, but they aren't necessarily a bad thing, either. 
Maybe you could explore this idea of forgiveness in a future poem(s) and give a more personal take. It could make a nice sequel, in the romantic tradition.

I wanted you to know that I didn't think your critique was too harsh. Your comments caused me to think in a more critical way about my poem, and "forced" me to find words to explain its purpose. Being as that was my first poem submitted here, I was somewhat concerned about how I would feel when someone critiqued it. I am pleased to report that I was not as thin-skinned as I feared I might be. It appears that you are also a fairly new member, and I want to again thank you for commenting. I enjoyed discussing poetry with you.

This kind of attitude quickly results in better writing. Damn, you caught on quick. Looking forward to more.