Each mask hides another,
Veil on tear-stained veil.
Each tattered page of my heart
Inked and stamped and sealed
In the shadows of my mind.
I wrote myself a fantasy,
Bound my heart in steel.
The bleeding aches I turned to scars
My dreams to sweat and tears.
I formed and chiseled and polished
And pounded out my soul
Until my reflection stared back
Like a heroine of old.
I stood before the tarnished mirror
Of all I ought to be.
A little better than my best,
Swifter here,
More caring there.
Let the world crumble at my feet
My foundation lay with in my soul
Where no hand could touch.
The reflection grew dim,
The masks ached and chafed,
And one by one I let them fall
Until only I stood
Unarmed, unarmored
The heroine who needed nothing else.
The aches still throbbed and pulsed
From some deeper, darker place.
Fissures spread across my frame
Across the mirror.
I grasped and clutched the shards
Of who I thought was.
But the heroine joined the masks,
In choking, blinding ash.
And in the cracking mirror, I saw
Myself.
A trembling, lonely child
Stained with the dust of dreams.
Not quite as much as I always thought
Less than all I’d tried to build.
All my efforts shattered,
In glass about my feet.
I sank into the ruins of my best
As day drifted into dusk.
No safety, no point, no reason to try
Only wild, chartless wilderness
And footsteps,
A shadow where my reflection once stood.
Another crouches in the dust,
His tears reflect my own.
“Come.”
He holds out a hand.
“I can be enough.”
Wow, Hope, that is AMAZING! So beautiful, and…just…wow. I love it so much. Great job! 😀
*bows* thank you.
That’s so beautifully written! Well done! This is indeed in its own way a masterpiece.
(By the way, did you perhaps get my email I sent you?)
Thanks! And… no? I don’t think I did? *frowns* I haven’t got anything recently? Was it submitted through the form deal on my site or in reply to a newsletter?
It was submitted by your site.
Oof.
It was really long too.
Should I try sending another?
Ugh, I’m so sorry. Every time I test the form, or have a friend test it, it works. Then something like this happens. Umm, why don’t you send it directly to me so that doesn’t happen again. The email is connect@authorhopeann.com
Just so I can reference and go searching–what time did you send the other email?
No problem, it’s all good. I will resend it as soon as I get out of class.
I sent it last Tuesday at maybe around 4-ish? I didn’t expect you to write back right away, but I began suspecting something was wrong when I saw your latest post.
Sorry for the confusion.
I liked this a lot…….
Thanks!
This echos my life right now. I try to write what I think I’m supposed to — for kingdom purposes. And the Master comes and says, your spot in kingdom purposes is to be yourself. That is the only way you can fit My plan for the kingdom. I crafted you to be you — the perfect fit in the big picture.
And yes… He is enough. People have expectations and try to pull us in different directions. (And I have those heroine expectations of myself too.) But you nailed it — The Master says He is enough for us … even in our brokenness and failings — especially then.
Thanks for the poem. It hit a bullseye in my heart.
Yes!
And I’m glad you enjoyed the poem. Life is…a very interesting journey. There’s always more to discover and learn. 😛
You are enough and Christ is enough. You are enough because Jesus is enough and where the changes need to be made, He is enough to make them possible.
The dark ugly places in your life, the broken shameful parts, the things you hate about yourself, these bear witness to His love for us. He sees them all and calls you His own. Unconditionally Christ gives you His love. He sees beyond all the masks and loves you.