Changes Poem by Stephen Holloway

the confusion drifts over my
heart

like a cold mist crosses my
brow

my soul screams
cries out to the people sitting next to me
but my lips move not at all

why must I live a life
of constant contradictions?

my lips say praises that my
soul yearns to sing

my minds dwells on something
that my soul recoils from

why must I live a life
of constant contradictions?

my soul yearns for perfection
that my body denies

the remedy sits on my lap
unopened
dusty
unused
O,
why must I live a life
of constant contradictions?

constant grinding at the grindstone
can bring only one result

i know who I am
i know where I've come from
and I can only hope where I am going

desperation
and the council of my Father and Mother

drove me to the last place a man goes.
Prayer
That fateful night

My life took the change that my soul
Needed
Desperately
Terribly
Dreadfully
And I've been changed
Ever
Since

I felt the love, the compassion
The will to change

I felt alive like I hadnt felt in
Too long
It caused me to turn
And look at myself
My life
And the way I treated
those around me
and more importantly
myself

I became happy
I became cheerful
I became me

I thought I had been living a life of
contradiction
In truth I was the contradiction.

My soul is something greater than my body
The body that was denying what
I truly am

My soul leaped for joy
Far higher than the stars

I discovered that man truly does reach
His greatest heights
While on his knees

Hope, Faith, and Charity
Is my last resort
Is your last resort
Is our last resort

At changing
The
World.