Double Ballade for History Repeated: Part Two

Too long, I too withheld my ear
from “slanderers” who poured
out tales of victimhood to smear
the servants of the Lord.
I trusted in our leaders’ sneer:
“No sins like that could blight us.”
But unhealed traumas reappear.
The past comes back to bite us.

Some quibble, now the bill is here,
“The Church cannot afford
to let each claimant profiteer
and claim a fat reward.”
“The damage wasn’t that severe.”
“They bankrupt us to spite us.”
But unhealed traumas reappear.
The past comes back to bite us.

Survivors say, “When we come near,
we get Don’t rob the poor-ed
by those who’ll only shed a tear
to mourn the Church’s hoard.
They pay when forced to pay. And we’re
reproached as they requite us.”
But unhealed traumas reappear.
The past comes back to bite us.

Time flows, and muddied waters clear,
asserted Heraclitus.
But unhealed traumas reappear.
The past comes back to bite us.