Snap

Let me set the stage
A girl standing amidst waves feeling caged
Contemplating her worth, life, and the past she’s already made
And comparing it to all around her and feeling numb rage

Isolated from her friends and feeling ignored
As they go deeper and she’s confined to the shore

She was known as the girl who could not let water touch her ears
Yet the culture defined her as the untouchable one over the years

She wanted to feel the powerful wave thrust her body into motion
With the hair dancing elegantly in the ocean

She wanted to explore the salt with unintentional sips
And feel the seaweed brush against her ankles, shoulders and lips
She wanted to travel the waves with their bobs and dips
And have nothing beneath her for her toes to grip

Yet here she stood, forever caught in the sinking sand
Her impression deepening as she outstretched her hand

The hand, like she, was alone in the air
Abandoned and tired of this world so unfair

Feeling vulnerable and unstable
Invisible and mislabeled and caught in her crude fable

Pondering throughout the snapshot she began to realize the complexity of this frame
She is placing her ruins next to their trophies which is bound to bring about shame
Her moments of struggle and tests by the flame
Are similar to those of whom she had come to blame

Blame for her misery, loneliness, and pain
They were one and the same, all covered in stains
The love she wanted was their very strain
All of her struggles their very chains

While she was lost in a sea of sand
They were vagabonds trying to look lavish and grand
Upon the waves so rough and unplanned
Each of us seeking our own holy land

Suddenly the distance seemed much less vast
The journeys of each swimmer became much more real at last
I began to see the value in their own past
And understand more deeply the human need to feel listened to and asked

My oppressors had danced to the songs of my sufferings
Fully unaware the notes were my sorrowful rings

How many people have I left unheard
All my life I focused so much on hearing voices, had I missed their heart’s words
And the inner ailments of my friend’s uncured
Therefore, I began to wade deep focused and undeterred

I waved hello frantically to the seashells beneath
And kicked away each feeling of self-pity and grief

I fixed my eyes on the Lord before me
Knowing he is the only master of the waves of the sea

If he could walk on water dragging him down
Maybe he could help me swim and have no fear to drown

I will swim beside the lives of those ahead
Yearning to retell what the Lord has said
Trusting God to help me give him all of my stains so red
And turn them into glorious and renewed white thread

Hoping that the story of my restoration
Can lead someone else to a better destination

It says in the Bible that out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks
I hope that as I speak out from the overflow of my heart, you will turn around and seek

Arise the feelings that you surpressed for so long
Lift your eyes to the heavens and finally hear the song
The beautiful and alluring melody of a God so strong
Who has been faithfully calling you to his side where you belong

The ocean before me is no longer filled
With cursers, abusers, mockers, and those chilled

No longer was I the helpless one on the shore
But those in the ocean were the ones who needed more

I finally had something to give to them, an ear
Sinking in the ocean is no longer my greatest fear

He has thrown off my shackles and led me out of my self-made cage
He has reminded me for who and for what I am made
He has eliminated my sorrow, bitterness, pain, and rage
He has set struck the set and redesigned the stage

Snap