Remorse Is Not a Synonym for Shame

A Poem for Rosh Hashanah Comparing Remorse to Shame

Remorse is not a synonym for shame.
One is mainly outer; the other, inner.
So might fear of shame deter a sinner
Hidden 'neath the gilt of a good name.

However, remorse comes from within, a feeling
Arisen from the grave of innocence,
Still haunted by a mystic moral sense
Hemorrhaging a sorrow that is healing.

A fear of shame requires imagination,
Needing an imaginative eye,
As remorse needs an imaginative I
Harrowed by empathic transformation.

© by Nicholas Gordon

Audio and Video Music: Nocturne. By Asher Fulero. Music free to use at YouTube.

To see this poem on my site, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/remors.html. For more poems for the Jewish High Holy Days, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/yomkippurpoems.html .