Response to a Challenge

I recently shared with a friend a couple of poems previously posted here. He said they seemed like they were written from inside a bell jar, as if I'd already given up hope that the people who I wanted to read them most would ever get there. He was more perceptive than he realized, and while he may not have meant it that way, I felt prodded to write something new, to show how things have changed for me since I wrote Love Locked Out. This one is a more accurate and comprehensive picture, and said friend even graciously consented to let me steal and use a line from something he wrote. I hope I've done it justice. And thanks for the challenge.

Coming Out

Though the darkness groaned, oppressive,
And the clouds were threatening,
When I found my resolution
I could sense the coming spring.

True, the granite walls are towering
And the thunder rumbles low,
But above their jagged summits
Iridescence starts to grow.

Imperceptibly the blackness
Slowly fades to pearly grey,
And a lark song breaks the stillness
As the mists depart away.

Clouds no longer dark, but glowing
As the sunlight pierces through
To a newly wakened knowing
Of what God would have me do.














No more bleakness of deception
Or denial that corrupts.
Like a spotlight on a diamond,
Authenticity erupts.

It's a chorus growing stronger,
It's a peal of gorgeous bells.
Fearing who I am no longer,
Radiant courage surges, swells.

Now I call out to my brethren
Joyful on the path with me,
And to those still stuck, despairing:
Look ahead to what I see!

There the rocks and thorns have vanished,
The mirage of fear has flown.
In the fragrant fresh of morning
Love and truth embrace their own.

Doff your fear and hesitation!
Walk with me toward the light.
Help me pave the path for others;
Help me make that future bright.