Starting Again

Why, hello there. It certainly has been awhile...

I was beginning to think that perhaps you had lost your way.

Come and sit down for a moment or two.

There are just a few things I wish to discuss with you.

Did you think when you left, you would leave who you are?

That distance would make you forget who you were?

Now if I may speak, and perhaps you will listen,

I wish to impart all the things you've been missin'.

All the time that we've shared from you little toy days,

Of prancing, pretending, and basking in my praise.

I loved you from the start. I knew you were special.

I created you different, more needy and supple.

Observant and quick, you took to the world,

And the light in your eyes like your birthstone, the pearl.

We enjoyed all those days, even those when you strayed

And developed a strong sense of good and bad ways.

And people, well they quickly did let you down

When you put them in places where I am renown.

The pains of betrayal, the lies and the hiding,

it hurt you so much that you came to me, crying.

I felt all your tears and I felt all your pain;

I felt all it with you, and together it rained.

You healed and recovered with new sense of self,

The people who hurt you are not your true wealth.

Your first idol came in the form of "best friends,"

where your needy and suppleness went to dead ends.

You learned very quickly, and even with boys,

That no one can satisfy you like my joys. 

You grew in your solitude, and we talked very often,

Though to you prayer was natural and not oft forgotten.

Oh how I loved when you'd go upstairs early,

And we'd talk for however long we wanted to, girly.

I involved you in theatre, for your suppleness was handy,

And you needed something occupying your time besides T.V.

Involving yourself in sports and in creative arts,

I made you a bridge for worlds far apart. 

Remember at recess? And the system you created?

Soccer field one day, and make-believe the other!

You took responsibility of your gifts and your friends,

And I am so proud of your willingness to bend,

And at such a young age, your intentions were in love,

In stewarding both things I had given from above.

I taught you to be good without praise from others,

For you knew that I knew your thoughts and your mutters.

You grew in yourself as your fear grew in me,

And I gave you the love and outlets you need.

You're anxious to move to the presently time,

But I still have more to say following this rhyme.

For you made me wait for more than a year,

To sit you back down and wizen your ear.

This is where patience and resting in my chatter

Will calm your anxiety, for I am what you're after.

I want you to make your paths straight for my care,

Else you'll have to stumble and remain unaware.

The hours you spend with me won't go to waste,

For you aren't created to hustle in haste.

Like a rose, like your name, that I plant in your heart,

Love grows with time and care; Love's living art.

So back to your journey, for you seem to have forgotten

Who I made you to be, though you think you're rotten.     

Through me you can soar; without me, you're stuck.

I give you structure when you run amuck.

When friends go new places, you ought not to go,

I placed you where your imagination can flow.

In middle school, I set you on a right track,

or else you'd be lost in the thick of the pack.

Hip-hop and soccer, theatre, and school, 

And people thought your singing voice was pretty cool.

But still you knew better, for you longed for friends

Who would love you for you, when your time in fame ends.

You prayed every morning for hope in your heart,

To remember the love that only I can impart. 

You prayed for a pure heart that thought nothing evil,

And instead showed the goodness that I am, revealed. 

You cried more these years, for the church, my beloved,

Still failed to love you in youth group... I shutter.

A place you considered a fun place to be,

Passed judgement and favoritism without understanding.   

Its amazing to me, the faith that you have,

In that small, supple body-- you cry and I laugh!

You know you don't fit, even when you "belong."

When you start to feel cozy, I remind you you're wrong.

It hurt when, with every imaginative idea,

Your friends chose not to understand our "theatre."

But you keep moving forward, for your gifts are inspiring.

They are vehicles for prayers, for it is me you are desiring!

High School... well, lets keep calm, and carry on.

You gave me your heart, and I gave you your talents,

You gave me your all, and I made you a leader.

In soccer, you're captain.

In theatre, you're the lead.

In music, you're a soloist.

In school, your grades pristine. 

But still, by my power and my holy name,

I made your heart strong, and your body unafraid.

But then you got sick, and your body became frail.

Your mind became warped, and your color turned pale.

On the outside, your beauty became worldly and fond,

But inside, you felt like the scum of a pond. 

I seemed far away, and you grew darker still.

You found things to love you, but nothing could fill.

A year you stopped praying, for your heart had lost faith,

Your sickness ran deeper than any could trace.

And when you emerged, I placed you with people

Who gathered and worshipped as my holy steeple.

But dear, you are sleepy.

Oh we'll just have to pick this up later.

Your day calls you onward,

My plans for you, greater.