Courage

i.

tears fall like glass,
stabbing,
cold, searing,
eyes burning.

a stabbing coldness,
an intense fire,
a storm inside;
she feels so alive,
but suddenly her throat is numb.

fingers grasping for her face,
struggling to erase stains:
tear-tracks, makeup, folds and creases,
traits she would have changed if she was
the Maker–

but she doesn’t know
she couldn’t surpass the
perfection of her face, her hands,
her eyes, her figure, her smile,
the image she was molded in.

mirror girl taunts the image,
but mirror girl is a lie;
mirror girl reads only lies,
the rulebook drawn by a lying society,

a lying society that lies because of
the corruption inside, unfolding,
the bitterest darkness and pride
strangling light at the core.

ii.

humans are inclined to our hearts,
which are wild and untamed, and chase after so many things,
hungering for something to satisfy a hole inside,
a burning desire to be full, full, full.

we chase joy,
we chase peace,
we chase love,
and all the pretty things,
but also darkness in disguise,
as our hearts get confused sometimes
and consider maybe darkness is what we bleed,
what our hearts should be pumping.

we take our beautiful souls for granted,
but we also elevate them above our heads,
to places we have no rights to reach to,
heights we desire but
by what means do we plan to reach there?

she cries because her heart hurts;
she followed the lies and found herself here,
and no, this is not where she thought she would be.

now she is confused,
finding within herself a darkness she
honestly doesn’t want,
so she tries to chase it away by
pursuing other things,
thinking she could do this on her own,
she doesn’t need help,
she doesn’t need anyone,
and if she did there would be no one,
because she thinks she is all
a l o n e .

and really, this is another lie we fall for,
the lie we turn to,
whether out of pity or pain,
the whisper we draw close and our hearts
cry.

iii.

only,
my dear,
in the beginning…

in the beginning we were created out of love,
and our hole was created to be filled with love,
from the ultimate source of love.

we were created to belong to a God of  l o v e ,
molded in His image to live in paradise and walk beside Him,
to love Him out of our own free will.

when everything fell apart,
He died so we wouldn’t have to,
knew unbelievable pain so we could
know unbelievable joy.

He separated Himself so
we could be close,
broke the barrier between us and
Love so we would never be
a l o n e .

we fight battles in the dark of the night,
icy tears and
fires in our souls,
but our fight is worth it because we’re
never alone.

iiii.

so she lifts her head to fight again,
lets her tears fall because sometimes
we just need to
unfold
and
let
g o .

but she refuses to give up,
laughs in the face
of the floods of darkness,
for the joy inside of her is unquenchable.

sometimes she falls apart,
but she always finds His promises true,
that He never leaves,
that He’s there to draw her close,
to take her broken pieces and
put them back together,
drawing the seams together with firm gold.

love always breaks through pain,
hope burns through fear,
joy dances through sorrow.

courage, dear heart,
in the midst of the blackest waves,
for your Shepherd
walks on water.