Forged

Sometimes I sink so deep down

Into this ocean of sorrow

It becomes hard to see how a brighter tomorrow

Could ever shine for me

Struggling to perfect the mess

I just end up making more

As the saboteur mocks me from the sidelines

Saying how soon I will be so utterly defeated

And then there are the times

I gain intimations of the light

Twinkling upon an open horizon

That extends before me

If I could only unfreeze the energy

That keeps me prisoner here

And then I am reminded

How sometimes we sink to rise

And how often victory can only be found

After we have allowed ourselves to become

Ground down like millet

Deep inside the jaws of defeat

For what deeper spiritual life

Denies suffering

And in avoiding its cleansing fires

Prevents the process

Of the forging of the soul

In the furnace

Of it’s destruction

And reconstruction