This is for you
This is for you, sitting
there, right now, with words bubbling like
lava just beneath your skin
And silence like cotton
in your mouth.
This is for you,
world-wounded and battled-scarred and carrying a
weapon up your sleeve and
waiting
for someone to ask you to put it
down.
This is for you, fresh
faced and bright eyed, not yet experienced in
this life and yet aching to know
the
limits of your soul – you are ready.
This is for you,
thinking the best I can do today is just keep the
needle out of my arm, the
bottle from my
lips, leave the cake in the display case and not touch that
person i
know i will hurt – you can do
better.
Five years ago, I walked
through the world,
With the wind blowing
clean through me,
Slogging through an
ocean of emptiness every day
Wind blowing clean through
me, bones cold and brittle
Body just a coincidence,
brain just a nuisance, existence a waiting
game-
This is for you who have
been there.
All I have to give you
is my story.
Four years ago, my heart
was shattered like the stain glass window
of a cathedral
Smashed with a rock
thrown with deliberate destruction
And I kept telling my
mother “my chest hurts, I can’t breathe, my
heart hurts”
She, worried mother,
furrowed brow, dialed the doctor,
But I said "it’s not
that heart”
This is for you, right now,
who understand.
All I have to give you
is my story.
All I have to show you
is this light inside me.
Three years ago I found
the key to a quiet space in my soul that I
didn’t know existed
It fit perfectly in a
lock I didn’t know existed
But had been trying,
unconsciously, to pick for years.
Now with wavering
resolution, shaky hands, uneasy eyes
I lit a match to a
candle in small secret place
And ignited a bonfire
This is for you who have
found a way out.
All I have to give you
is my story
All I have to show you
is this light inside me.
All I have learned is
that the only things that separate us
are a few inches of
space and air
And I become alive when
we drop the everyday act of being ok and
reveal our raw selves
I become alive when I
see the light turn on in someone else’s eyes
And I am painstakingly
present and I am aware of Each. Breath.
And I become alive in
the presence of the divine.
And this moment is
divine.
I can tell you this.
There will be more pain.
We are all wounded by
life.
And this is for you,
when you are sure you have lost your way
And when you stumble in
the woods and when you are lost in the
shadows
Look for my lantern.
I have a map and I think
I know the way
And I will walk with
you, singing, until we find our way home.
All I have to give you
is my story,
All I have to show you
is this light inside me.
And this is all for you
and it is all free
And all I have learned
is to love something
Take chances
Be unafraid of life
This is for you.
Because now, it’s your
turn.
This story is for you.
It is hope
It is a promise.
You are ready.