Travail

I am so blessed

I was chosen to be pressed

To fold and break

To fight, seemingly alone

Against an unseen foe

In a sea of towering grass

To wander

With steps of faded glory

And find myself

Falling into the crevasse

To be driven to climb

Fueled by an untouchable fire

Fleeting

Yet somehow adequate

And upon

Reaching the top

To discover

That's Life's author

Had transformed the very ground

Beneath my feet

Into a mountain

And atop its magnificent summit

I could survey all creation

And Truth spoke to me

He told me it is all mine

To serve and to nourish

Have you been blessed to be torn?

Do you know

That the most precious gem

Is the hardest to find?

So goes the journey of your soul

The most beautiful soul

Is brought through a great travail

Born to light the world

Stephen Pursell, 10/22/98