Let the shame and its rivulets run out of my body.

Let me sit with the emptiness, remembering that the shame was unwanted, an invader…non-indigenous.

Vulnerable and outmuscled, I believed it was mine to harbor.

Let the shame and its rivulets run out of my body.

Let it be pushed gently along by wisdom.

And by knowing:

That as I allowed the dark waters of judgment to drown me, so can I disallow and disown terror, helplessness, and blind obedience.

Let the shame and its rivulets run out of my body.