Rising from the Ashes

Primarily to aid in my journey of recovery but also for research, I’ve been taking a course called “Walking Wounded: Help for those hurt by the church.” One of our assignments was to make a creative expression of what we’ve been through. This is the poem I wrote for that assignment:

Rising from the Ashes

So you knocked me down
and you told your lies
You kicked me around
and then you made me cry

But I still feel so sorry for you
I bet that you’re in pain too
It must hurt so bad to be consumed by you

You pounded your chest
You “showed me who’s boss”
Now you can give it a rest
cause I am rising above you

Your icy, angry heart
left me standing in the cold
I know that you’d melt if
I’d just do as I was told

But here’s the thing, this fear of flame
It doesn’t bind me anymore
There are no chains to crush my heart
I’m free to fly, I’m free to soar

See you thought that I would take it
That I’d kneel down and fake it
I bet you were surprised when I said goodbye

All I could do was walk out
and leave you there to find out
what all went wrong and hope that you’ll realize

Your cruel words jumped me to my feet
Your controlling hands will have no place to squeeze
As I take my cue to leave and finally learn to breathe

But I still feel so sorry for you
I bet that you’re in pain too
It must hurt so bad to be consumed by you

I was knocked down and fed lies
I was kicked around and left to die

Watch now
as I rise