THE BLACKSMITH

I began

As an untempered length of steel

Rough and uncut

Dull and unrefined

Life is the blacksmith

That held me in his hands

And had a vision

Of what I was to become

He thrust me

Into the fiery coals of derision

Which melted my strength

And dissolved my integrity

He beat me

With the hammer of injustice

On the anvil of anger

He pummeled me

I was bent and broken

Chipped and beaten

Overcome by fire

Stroked by steel

That's when you found me

Nearly unrecognizable

By the pressures of life

And the blows of my past

You comforted

And soothed me

With the cool waters

Of your love

You eased the pressure

And extinguished the fire

You buried the anvil

Beside the hammer

And once I emerged

From your healing waters

You looked at me

And I had changed