today the wound is open

and the path ahead is hard,

I am picking over memories

and my faults and flaws

stand large and stark

like mountains silhouetted

against a sun-burnt sky,

I cannot hide,

I cannot run,

and if I turn my back

 those mountains

grow eyes that bore

into the centre of my soul,

so today I make a different choice,

I take a stand,

I own my wound, face those

mountains and call them out

by name,

I choose to love them,

these faults and flaws,

these shadows of mine,

I choose to love them,

to hold them,

to bind their

sores, to pour balm

onto their hardened places..

the mountains are gone now,

the way lies open before me,

and though I limp

more than a little

each new step now

brings

healing.