Bare branches Quote by Anne Porter
““A Short Testament Whatever harm I may have done In all my life in all your wide creation If I cannot repair it I beg you to repair it, And then there are all the wounded The poor the deaf the lonely and the old Whom I have roughly dismissed As if I were not one of them. Where I have wronged them by it And cannot make amends I ask you To comfort them to overflowing, And where there are lives I may have withered around me, Or lives of strangers far or near That I've destroyed in blind complicity, And if I cannot find them Or have no way to serve them, Remember them. I beg you to remember them When winter is over And all your unimaginable promises Burst into song on death's bare branches.””
About This Quote
Source Poem: "A Short Testament", Anne Porter, 1970
The speaker pleads for divine mercy for personal and collective failings, asking for remembrance and comfort for the wounded and forgotten.
In simple terms: Ask for mercy and remembrance for all.
Key Takeaway
Seek compassion for those harmed.
Themes
forgiveness
remembrance
compassion
humility
Mood
somber
hopeful
Type
spiritual
reflective
When to use this quote
- prayer
- counseling
- community service
- social work
- activism
Key Concepts
theology
ethics
social responsibility
Questions to Reflect On
- What can you do to help the wounded?
- How do you remember those you’ve hurt?
A Different Perspective
The plea may not lead to concrete action.
