You languish, awash in worry
that time is slipping by
and all that once was
has long gone down the road
never to pass your way again

they tell you you’re a sinner
and you remember
when your innocence
wouldn’t allow you to believe
but time and their wicked words
have so deliberately whittled you away

it is they who tell you to keep coming back,
dangling the hope of salvation
just beyond your fervor’s grasp.

But there are a few things
that they have failed to tell you
you are miraculous, you are divinity’s spark
the power of your soul is a sleeping giant, long exiled

if you only knew the power that you possess
your eyes would stream tears of joy as if awakened
from a terrible nightmare to realize the greatest of secrets,
that you are an emperor in beggar's clothes indeed.

~Eric Vance Walton~