Awakening Poem by Mary Champion

Sleepwalking I suppose…
sleepwalking was how I set off on my journey.
Barely touching reality,
I focussed on the milestones
and gave little thought to my ultimate destination.
Scarcely disturbing the ground beneath my feet,
my head somewhere in the clouds;
I drifted from today to tomorrow,
controlling the exterior;
insensible of my soul.

Then the blinding light
of solid reality
shattered me into wakefulness.
For the first time
I began to participate in my life,
to confront my inadequacies,
to question my assumptions-.
frog-marched into
the nightmare of mindfulness.

Bitter lessons learned,
torpedoed heart rebuilt,
Reality loosened its grip -
that's how it seemed.at first.
But then the slowly dawning truth
directed my attention
to the brutal amputation
I had undergone.
I no longer had the capacity
to lose myself in daydreams
and faint hopes.
I could see too clearly for comfort.
The consoling shadows of ignorance
were no longer there for me.
Then I had seen through a glass darkly,
but now, face to face with myself,
I have no hiding place.