La Dispute
Sad Prayers For Guilty Bodies
They stored their passion in the creases in the corners of their mouths
Every angle of light from the open window washed their aged faces out

"Should we feel guilty? They said
Should we feel guilty for this sin?
Lord, did we kill a man and woman just to lie here skin to skin?"

"I wasn't happy. I wasn't happy where I was
Oh what is life without a purpose?
What is purpose without love?
I pray my children will forgive me, though I bade the river flood
I have washed my hands a thousand times but still can see the blood."

"Oh, great mercy, I am here to beg forgiveness for this mess
I know I tore two worlds apart but I can't change the way I felt. Love swept in like a storm and ripped the hinges from the doors
Love poured in like a flood, I couldn't stop it any more
I will not be
No, I will not be
Drowned."

She said, "Lover, come and hold me, I am terribly afraid
While you're shouting at the stars, my scars are not fading away."
He said, "Darling, I was begging heaven make them disappear, but
See, I didn't get an answer or at least one I could hear
Now I am thinking of the past and how we both said vows and lied And I am wondering how we trust ourselves to say a second time:
'To have and to hold
From this day and onward
For better and for worse
For richer and for poorer
In sickness or in health
To love and to cherish
'Till death do us part?'"