Mind

My mind’s eye sees scattered shards of memory--

Broken, jagged, glistening.

A pregnant pause labors for a seeming eternity

Then delivers, fragments crumbling.

They tumble towards me so my eyes burn

And wince, fervently tearing.

I try to extinguish the lusts which I yearn

To forget, my mind upending.

But the battle is not mine--

I must look to God above

Who always gives the rescue line

To pull us out in His love.

Whom shall I fear but God alone?

For even near the stickiest mire

I know that He is near-- my soul He’ll hone

As He lovingly refines us in fire.

A blush spills from my cheeks

Puddling on my face;

Smiling strangers making some tweaks

To their gaze look for a brace,

A crutch, a cane, to navigate

Their sea of many thoughts,

Careful to try to mitigate

Trips; but it is for naught,

For though I try to scrub my skin

With calming words galore,

Still some look up and then trip in

Those peculiar spots of color.