Undone.

Thou shalt not.
A line that has rung in the ears
of those who would cross it
and hesitate.
Flaming words, fiery desires
resist what would slow and cool.
Choices, careless and defiant,
leave marks on body, and mind, and heart.

Thou shalt.
A command that comes as a quiet call—
to receive what is given,
to give what is needed,
to answer what is asked.
The world’s low drone
dulls the ear and keeps
the call from being answered.

We hate wrongs done,
for we feel their violence.
What is not done passes quietly,
its absence unnoticed.
Yet it gathers in the soul,
not as wound, but emptiness,
the shape of what is left undone.
We are formed by what we do and do not do.