Footsteps

Footsteps in the sand
My marks of history
The tale of my days

I can see my triumphant steps, lunging forward
The gaps between steps widening as I ran forward
My leaps of joy leave deeper marks
As I celebrate my victories
And sometimes another pair comes alongside me
And we share the moment together

But I can see trails when I dragged myself through times
I can see the mark of my heels where I stumbled back
There are pits also
Some just ankle deep where I stopped for a period of time
Some are gaping where I lay defeated

And then there are my mistakes
Wide swerves to the right and left
Some are so gradual that I barely noticed
Others were intentional and sudden
In those times I left the sand and strayed into the sharp rocks
The returning footsteps are tinged with blood and a limp is clearly visible
On one occasion the limp stayed

Footsteps in the sand
The tide is coming in
Golden and shimmering
I can see my footsteps eroding
Crumbling into nothingness
The red blood is washed away
The wayward footsteps vanish, the lost time irrelevant
The pits of defeat now filled with gold

I had so many regrets
I had so much pain
But now the hurt ends
Their mark on my life has been washed away

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Footsteps in the Sand by george.bremner , CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Anger

Burning rage
In the pit of my soul
It is eating me alive

Life has lost its lustre
Joy has been drained out
Just the sinkhole of despair remains
It is pulling me in

Fury but with no aim
Anger but no target
So the blows end up on me
And the rage starts again

Locked in a cage
With the key in my pocket
Will I forget my slights?
Will I release my soul?

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Image of Waiting - 275/365 by Niklas Morberg, CC BY-NC 2.0

Clarity

Weights press heavily on my shoulders,
The hustle and bustle of life has me in a spin,
I am not just planning the weeks to come 
I am planning the upcoming months and years as well 
Filling up my diary with endless appointments,
Just adding to the weight that rests on my aching back

But then I stop and I look heavenward,
Your Spirit descends from above and rests on me,
Imperceptible, weightless and yet so definite and clear,
You breathe new life into me,
You bring clarity to my mind and You sharpen my vision,
You unstrap me from my crushing load,
My back straightens up,
The aches and pains fall off,
The clouds vanish from the skies,
You fling my load effortlessly onto Your back and You motion to me,
And we walk together.

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Image of light shadow  by Florian Sabou, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Game of Lies

The pressure is increasing
Your performance is losing its conviction
And your audience is beginning to drift
You can't keep playing this game forever

The circle of lies is arcing back
Back to its origin
The whip of fear is on your back
As you continue your frantic dance

We wear the mask until we forget who we are
We play the game for so long
That we forget it's a game
And that we always lose

The words start to flow
You rip the layers of deception off
Until there is nothing left
And you are left face to face with the truth

1 John 1:9 - 'If we confess our sins, he is faithful 
and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us
from all unrighteousness."

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 Image of Lament to Freedom...by  Seyyedeh Behnaz Hatam, CC BY NC-ND 2.0

The Stone Was Rolled Away

We all have our stones
Tethered with thick ropes to our backs
Our bones crunch as we walk with them
Every back is bent, every head is bowed

We put on a brave face to the world
Too afraid to let the pain show
Making excuses when our guard drops
But in our rooms we let the tears flow
We feel so alone in our pain
Yet through the wall the same thing is happening

A man struggles up the street
His back is ripped to shreds
His head is in tatters as a twisted crown burrows deeper
Mocking cries ring round as He carries the heaviest weight of all

Suddenly the rope snaps and your stone rolls free
You chase after it in horror
It is all you have ever known
It rolls down the street and you dive desperately onto it
But it is only as you hold on to it that you realise
You feel freer than ever before
Slowly you relinquish your grip
And the stone rolls off into the distance
And many more join it as it disappears over the horizon

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Image 1 – Balanced Rock by James Marvin Phelps, CC-BY-2.0

Image 2 –Big Balanced Rock Formation – Chiricahua National Monument by Al_HikesAZ, CC-BY-2.0