Slings and Arrows

SLINGS and ARROWS

I fall to my knees

With choked off pleas

Then upon my face

In heartfelt disgrace

Thrust upon me

Tests do come

Unasked for

They strike me dumb

I face them head on

Arise and allow them

To strike their blow

Dauntless I follow

Where they lead, I do go

Inside I scream

And they become

Shattered dreams

What was if for?

What does it mean?

That which has

Left me demeaned

Again and again

These blows strike

Leaving me little respite

A seemingly incessant blight

Pushing me deeper

Into the dark felt night

When these tests

Do ebb and go

They leave me heaving

On their leaving

Upon the shores of self

I am weak and spent

As they only appear to relent

I am unworthy

Of anything else

But to find myself alone

Assuaging my wounds

As best as I can

Where no one else

Can begin to understand

With each grain of sand

That falls through life’s glass

I reflect as time drops

Grain by grain

They bring with them

Tests experienced

Pain by pain

Seemingly incongruous

It may seem

But through life

 I have deemed

That these tests are a gift

That hones my soul

Regardless of what may be

My life’s role

And though pain and suffering

They may bring

In the end

My heart doth sing

-Shiidon, October 2012