The Thorn in My Side

Daylight stirs and I feel

heavy

with the weight of knowing all

I must again carry upon shoulders

forever

too small.

Try to rise, but how

cold

chants mechanical lament upon window,

by & by, a bitter beast, against the pane

of mind

blows

At this onslaught of hope-less thoughts,

exposed

flesh is rattled: the face

of the future obscured; faith with fear

instead

replaced.

On brink of broken, I’m awoken: diseased

roots

deep reaching in me-reach toward the Lord

a hallowed door into His temple, now this

anchor

to floorboard.

Where near and knowable in the need

that bends

me to knees, He waits for my soul’s cry,

as an instrument of extended longing,

eternally to satisfy.

Daylight crowns and I choose

trust

that though in every way torn:

this the thorn that from death to life

will

transform-