Did the smell of charcoal
coat Peter’s conscience?
Was the denial like soot
he couldn’t wash clean?
Faith under fire
scorched into memory?
Was he burdened by his lies
when Jesus rebuilt the scene?
Waves of shame on the shore of Galilee?
From chapped hands and borrowed warmth
to breakfast in safety?
What did he feel with the words “Do you love me?”
Was it a warm compress to his injured identity?
Was he a little more whole with each soft repeat?
How did Jesus meet you in your worst memory?
Did starving for love turn to feeding sheep?
Did charcoal become your testimony?
Micaela Meyer is a poet from Modesto, California whose work unfolds in conversation with God and the writers of Scripture. Many of her poems begin in the Notes app while parked in shopping center lots after closing time.
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