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Category: Spiritual/Religion
Description: Life was never meant to be easy--but there is help and hope for those times when you feel like you just can't climb any more. In the unique style of freestyle poetry, Melanie Ann Billings explores the emotional ups and downs of her own climb up Life's mountain.
eBook Publisher: Whiskey Creek Press, 2009
eBookwise Release Date: July 2009

Available eBook Formats: OEBFF Format (IMP) [46 KB]
Words: 7259
Reading time: 20-29 min.

Section One:

I Speak

Finding The Path

Darkness clouds my memory.

A long, winding road stretches before me,

A road whose rocks pierce my shoes

And rip into my soft, tender feet.

I pause to nurse my wounds

And the monster catches me.

I am thrown from the path.

My face and arms burn with ground-in gravel.

I stand shakily on unsure feet.

I see that the path is far away--

Miles of shredded glass span the distance.

Yet, a tree stands in the midst of the space

With branches that stretch easily to the path.

If I could only reach the tree...

But the way is long and the glass is sharp.

I look down at my shoes.

In disbelief, bare feet answer my gaze.

I take a deep breath to clear my mind

And then a cautious step.

The glass pierces my heel.

I smell the fresh blood that, in moments, bathes my foot.

A large piece of glass trips me.

I fall onto my hands.

Jagged strips of flesh are forever ripped away.

The open wounds gush crimson.

The tree is closer now, but my flesh is weak.

It tears upon every glass shard I encounter.

Bloody hands seek to wipe the sweat from my eyes.

Bits of glass in my fingers rip away my sight.

The world is a red sea and I am drowning.

My flailing arms brush against bark.

I find myself clinging to the tree.

A new strength fills my being and my sight is restored.

I climb the branch that will carry me back to the path.

The sharp stones have no effect

Upon the calloused feet I have earned.

As the darkness clears,

A ray of sunlight bathes me in peaceful radiance.

The walking is easier now.

Soul Strength

Oh, God, my strength,

I need You now.

I have always needed You,

But time causes forgetfulness

And I look to others

For the strength

Only found in You,

My Soul Strength.

Hold me.

Your arms, like steel,

Can keep out the pain;

It hammers me to my knees.

At times I cannot even breathe.

The sobs rip at unseen places

Deep within.

I am filled with pain

All because I put my trust

In a man,

Instead of looking to You.

This pain is my consequence,

As his pain at my heartache is his.

Lord lead us.

Give me peace and desire to trust in You.

Give him strength of will

And a desire to be Yours in all things.

For You are

Our Soul Strength.

How could we not need You?

He Comes

Darkness:

My friend,

The herald of my Lover.

It is only in you

That His Light can shine.

It is in the aloneness of your silence

That I can hear His voice.

You hide my tears.

When His arms are around my heart,

His comforting whispers

Carry on in your echoing fathoms.

It is only in you,

When I am alone,

That He comes,

Bringing peace

In His Light and Love

Through the dark.

DayDream

Nothing else matters

But Your love, Oh God.

Our dreams rob us of life

But Your dreams

Are Truth, Hope, and Eternity.

We only truly live

When we see through Your eyes.

When our hearts

Reflect Yours.

Save us from our nightmares,

So that in waking,

We may find new life

In the dawn of Your

DayDream.

The Mountain Faller

The mountain is high and towers above me.

I climb slowly, slipping on loose stones.

Each time I slip, I pick myself up

And try again. The cycle continues.

Each time, I slip dangerously closer

To the bottom where I first started the climb.

Pretty soon, I find myself on the ground,

Looking upward at the mountain,

Aching to climb.

But each step brings me sliding to the bottom

In an unexpected avalanche.

I look at my hands.

They are bloodied and oozing from the effort.

Standing there, looking up, I realize

That I can climb no more.

My strength just doesn't cut it.

And my heart is no longer in the climb.

I cry out to the blue expanse above,

"Don't let me quit!"

And then You are there.

You've come down the mountain to me.

You reach out a hand and smile.

"Come, let me help you."

I reach up in answer

And begin to climb once more.

And I realize that only with You

Can I get anywhere at all.