Only Then Poem by JAMES T. ADAIR

If you tell yourself 'I am graceful'
You may be flooded with a sense of renewed grace
If you break a pure heart but call yourself 'caring'
You may see morning sunshine streaming through your curtains
If you bury the past and spit on it and align yourself with no one
You may tell yourself you feel a new sense of freedom
while basking in your renewed sense of importance
If you've been through the finest schools you may feel bright
and have a sense that you've learned something
If you should go into the chapel and decide it's all hogwash
you might, delightfully knock over a marble statue
that someone crafted from their heart, as well as from stone
emboldened by your new found sense of self-worth
But in your own little world YOU can tell yourself
ANYTHING
And you might believe it...for a time.......
But then you run into something!