The other day, I found myself
Somewhere between 13 paces
And thirteen minutes.
I was a one-step trip on my laces,
And by 14 minutes,
I was alone again.

Have you ever been asked if you have any time for Jesus?
Like, He's just an errand you can run before dinner time.
"Just a moment to talk about our savior".
As if in a moment, you could actually ever convince a sinner they're worth more than the empty bottles of cheap *****.
Somebody told me once, "You know, if it weren't for the power of God, you wouldn't be here"
Well, *******.
Let his blessings rain upon me, because I'll be ****** if I can remember the last time I felt alive.
Someone once wrapped a coat around my shoulders when I couldn't even remember the day.
And I've been told saviors come in many forms,
But I was sober enough to know that man was not Jesus Christ
Because he wasn't that big of an *******.

A big "dry clean only" coat, swimming straight in the mud.
And a beautiful white dress adorned with a merlot colored stain in my lap.
And long, dark, Italian-bred hair drenched in color-changing chemicals.
And an ivory complexion smeared with gray cigarette smoke.
And a handful of teeth painted yellow.
And a pair of strong hands that I never bother to utilize.
And a couple of shoulders carrying too much of the load.
And my poor, poor heart that took the blow for the risks I insisted on taking.
Maybe if I was a little better at taking care of my things,
My things would start taking care of me.

"For a spine", he said, as he grabbed a wilted leaf.
"For her eyes", he said, as he trapped the water from the sea.
"For her heart", he said, as he hollowed out a tree.
"For her smile", he said, as he held a fist of broken teeth
"For her soul", he said, as he pointed at a darkened street.
I am a twisted spirit that God mistakenly set free
Because he never expected greatness to burn its flame inside of me.

For all my life, I looked for you
Someone who would never go away
Then one day, I found you
I fought my tendency to stray
For one year, I chased you
With a promise to behave
For now, it seems I have you
But no guaranteed amount of days
I know I said I loved you
But I'm sorry, I can't stay
For although I fought so hard to keep you
It is me who will always run away

For weeks, I couldn't sleep
Because nobody was tracing circles on my back
My skin went untouched for so long
Then he finally came along
And drew figure eights across my shoulders
I had almost forgotton what it's like
To have a
Good
Night's
Sleep.

When we were kids and they tied the superhero capes around our necks,
We weren't imagining.
We were practicing.
God himself cracked the egg of creation, from which spawned and blossomed us lawless heroes whose only job was to survive
Or die trying
He said we were the real deal, the heroes not even the hopeless could think of to think up,
Branded, from the start
As hearts encased inside sick bodies
Obviously, just by looking, nobody would ever label us flawless
Because God shrouded us in scars and challenged us to harness the darkness
"Departure to battle is now", he said
And before we could rattle our strength awake, we emerged
With disease wrapped tight around our feet
Defeat just inching close enough to feel It's breath upon our necks
But we turned around to shout, "We are not finished yet"
And despite being spit on and belittled by the other bully kids
For being too sick to be respected
And despite being neglected by a normal childhood
We stood
We stood tall, because God never taught us how to fall, only how to carry on
So we stared into the night like there was nothing there to fear
Because we were born to be beacons of bright beaming light
Who had to be broken first, for cracks to form, to leave windows for the shine
When the battle is done, we remain, bald beauties, bold souls
Kids
With a story
And a new star in the sky for every kid who never got to see the glory
So, for Mom and Dad who couldn't face it for me
For every family who had to stand by and hope for the best
For every one of those who accepted us as nothing like the rest
For the ones left who still shine despite the trials
And for the ones who died trying

From one bright light to another
I will help you fight.