Step Up Poem by Saiyuri Oliver

Step up to the challenge
All life gives you are tests
Tests you can't retake
You either win or lose
There's no second place
You can mess up and keep going
Lose some, win some
Isn't that how the saying goes?
But victory
Sweet victory is what we all strive for most
To know that we've beaten the odds
We've finally pushed ahead
And then you hit a speed-bump
Doing sixty
And you lose all sense of life
You lose that optimism
You lose your willt o fight
After one more hurdle
You lose that feeling of what's right
So we sink
Too calloused to care
Too hurt to feel
Emotions only a mask
To hide the real deal
So what's left, you may ask
No lo se! I don't know
I don't have the strength to try once more
I know I can't make anyone understand
The feelings in my heart or the thoughts in my head
So I write them down on paper
Let my emotions come through this pen
There's too much fear; pain over what's been lost
Reprimanded by my family
Only because I thought I lost my faith in God
See, we always had an understanding
I wouldn't go to church, but I prayed to Him daily
He protected my family; both by blood and my extended
He showered me with love and optimism
I walked around with my head held high
Loving my freedom
Now I don't feel Him, not in life as he once was
But now I realize the hidden truth, and I smile as I write
God is never gone
He's never disappeared
He's giving you a challenge
One that He knows you can win
And I know one thing for a fact
God will never give you a task
A challenge or a test
You cannot succeed in
He is just, kind and merciful
At times with a questionable sense of humor
But above all He's a confident
For those like me who always feels alone
God is the silent and most trusted friend.