The Fire and the Lie

Happiness whispers, then fades like the wind,

A fleeting illusion, a game that won’t end.

One moment it sparkles, the next it is gone,

A shadow that mocks as it leads you along.

 

But blessedness stands like a mountain unmoved,

Rooted in truth, unshaken, approved.

Not tossed by the tempest, nor drowned in the tide,

It stays when all comfort has withered and died.

 

I have walked through the valley where darkness devours,

Where sorrow runs deep and the cold midnight cowers.

Yet even in grief, though joy may be weak,

Blessedness lingers, unchained, complete.

 

Truth does not promise the warmth of the sun,

But it arms you with strength when the battle is won.

It does not pretend there’s no suffering here,

Yet in the wreckage, it whispers: Persevere.

 

But woe to the soul who surrenders to lies,

Who builds upon echoes and closes their eyes.

For deceit is a fire that scorches the bone,

And the farther you wander, the more you’re alone.

 

Turn from the Light, and your heart will grow stone,

Your conscience will wither, your spirit disown.

You’ll chase after wisdom that flatters your pride,

Yet lose the one truth that keeps you alive.

 

I know, for I wandered, I faltered, I fell,

I carved out my ruin, I crafted my hell.

I’ve borne the deep scars of the path I once chose,

And watched others perish, oblivious, closed.

 

But here in the wreckage, I rise once again,

A man not yet whole, yet forged by the pain.

The past still lingers, the wounds are not gone,

But truth is my anchor, I will not be drawn.

 

They press me, they push me, they beg me to prove,

To fit in their mold, to show them I move.

But I owe them nothing, no mask, no display,

For truth is my compass, and I will not stray.

 

I do not deserve it, God I know it, yet still, I must fight,

For truth is my lifeline, my one saving light.

And though I am weary, though hope may seem thin,

I will not be lost, I will not give in.