When the past, long thought dead, suddenly becomes the present…
Of course, it’s usually the unwanted past that creeps up – go figure…
So sly, playing possum, waiting for that atmosphere – the crack in the psyche.
For it knows, that with the pressures of life come cracks and fractures;
And oftentimes the more rigid the structures, the deeper the damage,
The louder the snaps, and the more forceful the bursts.

But there’s hope, and hope has never been so beautiful
As when it comes on the backdrop of a familiar darkness;
A dangerous familiarity, fearfully enticing and depressingly comforting;
Knowing all the right buttons to push, which scars to rub
And which nerves to touch – whispering inevitability with impunity.
Its most fearful line? ‘This time, I’ve got you – no escape!’

But there’s hope! It is a defeated foe, though a sore shameless loser.
‘Once bitten, twice shy’ they say, but it seems we both didn’t learn well.
So it comes back with a vengeance and kicks when I’m down – opportunist.
I let it, because after all, I’m down, what’s left to do? – Defeatist.
I allow myself to give in to the wiles of these guilty pleasures – feast.

But there’s hope; I’ve beaten it before, right? Once? Twice?
I’ve got enough experience to win again, and there’s Help – Sufficient;
Though it may not seem like it, stuck down here in the grave it dug.
I know I ought not be here, lying still, taking shallow breaths,
Wasting away the strength to lift a hand and reach out – almost lifeless.

But there’s hope; That’s faith speaking – the little spark of life
That can grow so dim that darkness comes to play – an endless starless night.
But a single little spark with the right fuel, and we have a roaring bonfire
That can turn the gloomiest night into a festival of hope, faith, and love.

#Romans 5:5
#Habakkuk 2:4
#Proverbs 24:6
#I Corinthians 13:13