The Bird and Baby

It has taken me far too long,
To stand where I am now.
Too many times I’ve tried,
To stand before I drowned.

And I would wave my arms defiantly,
Towards the world and divine powers.
Because my life was not going my way,
And I hated each and every hour.

But when I stopped to look around,
I saw a mystery before me.
There was nobody in my path,
No God who punished me consistently.

Instead I saw my legs were broken,
They were far too weak and feeble.
And no amount of my own will,
Could resurrect this dying sleeper.

Destitute and without shelter,
I resigned myself to sorrow.
I could find no reason to go onward.
No desire for tomorrow.

But, oh what glory in that darkness!
What joy I’d never known.
For in the stillness of my grief,
There came a voice as strong as stone.

Like the warm wind of April,
With a soothing sweet aroma.
Deeper than the greatest canyon,
Mightier that the tallest mountain.

Like the summer thunder it roared,
And shook the ground beneath my feet.
Yet twas the softest voice I’d ever heard,
And it spoke a single word: “Peace”.

And then at last I saw it,
A mountain touching the sky.
And a glorious light around it,
Singing down from on high.

And the top of that mountain,
No mortal eyes could see.
It faded into starlight,
And branched out into trees.

And it was clear in that moment,
Like never before,
That the peak of the summit,
Is what my heart yearned for.

And beside me lay a crutch,
Carved from an ancient tree.
And the words inscribed ” Remember the darkness,
And keep your eyes fixed on me”.

And I rose for the first time,
With my eyes toward the mountain.
A sure rod to lean on,
And a still voice to guide me.

-Taylor Glenn Pritchard