IT’S YOU!

The thing I once rejected
is now the thing I am.
I clung to my attachments;
and they made me one of them.
My anger towards another
shows the parts of me, I fear,
may rob me of security;
and so my pain is here.
This pain (repressed and locked away)
would steal the life from me.
With intuition as my guide,
now I CHOOSE to be FREE!

I FEEL into the FEEL-ings;
as I step into the storm.
I will face my pain with courage;
even though my soul is worn.....
And there, I find that part of me
I left, so all alone.
I hold them to me lovingly;
accepting what I've done.
For I had feared what was not seen.
“The darkness" was its name.
Now with compassion; patiently,
I set aside the shame.
“The darkness" wraps around me now.
There's nothing I can see.
I search for light. A voice replies;
“IT’S YOU! YOU ARE THE KEY!".

I do not understand these words.
I look around with dread.
Expecting frightful visions;
but I feel at peace instead.
The voice continues slowly.
It must sense in me, the fear.
I am not certain of this place.
I do not like it here.....

“I've waited many days and nights
to meet with you, my friend.
Your fears, misunderstandings,
I can soon bring to an end.
For many run away from me;
not knowing why nor how.
If you will listen carefully;
then I will tell you now.

But FIRST of all, you must sit still.
‘The darkness’ cannot aid -
a soul remaining restless,
still in struggle and afraid.
Just sink into what you're FEEL-ing.
Let your body be your guide.
Bring your attention to your breath.
No need to run and hide.

How thrilled I am to - finally -
be speaking with you here.
You’ve kept me distant;
even though
I AM -
forever near.
I'm face to face before you now.
My secrets I will share.
To see in me, my truest sense
you must proceed with care”.

I then agreed, intrepidly,
to see where this would go.
I’ve come this far.
I’ve done this much.
This secret I MUST know!
"If you would see me as I am;
there is a price to pay.
FOR YOU MUST LOVE
ALL OF YOURSELF -
JUST AS YOU ARE - TODAY.....”

I shook my head in disbelief.
“How can this thing be true?
I do not see how loving me
could help me knowing you.
For YOU - YOU are ‘The darkness’;
sum of everything I fear.
I’d rather hide and put away;
not nurture and bring near.”

“Who taught you fear for what I am?
Who told you I would harm?
I do not seek to hurt you, friend.
No need for such alarm.
Eyes cannot see what lies beyond
YOUR cloak of FEAR - YOU’VE MADE.
You must, at once now, understand
just WHY you are afraid.

For never have I hurt you.
Never once betrayed your name.
Still - only silence given me;
and fear, distrust, and shame.”
I stood amazed at what I heard.
“How can these things be so?
‘The darkness’ merely comes
from parts of me, that I don’t know.....

.....”Alas! the student's ready!
Now the master has appeared!
So you see in me, my purpose, child.
I need not to be feared.
The questions you're afraid to ask,
the heartbreaks throbbing still,
the "should-have-been's"
and "only-if's",
the "hard-to-swallow pill",
the anger and the jealousy,
frustration and the shame,
WHAT YOU DON'T LOVE
ABOUT YOURSELF
IS WHAT DEFINES
MY NAME.....

It's YOU - who made me what I am!
It's YOU - who makes me so!
And only YOU -
YOUR CHOICE -
THIS DAY -
can change
ALL that YOU know.....

My place has been behind you;
though I stand before you now.
For that is WHERE YOU PUT ME.
ONLY LOVE CAN BRING ME OUT.
NOT love for all the REASONS
WHY you FEEL the way you do;
but LOVE FOR SELF,
without condition,
simple, honest, true.
For when YOU turn
and face YOUR darkness,
YOU will come to see.
To change YOUR darkness
into light; IT'S YOU!
YOU ARE THE KEY!”.....

The garments darkness wrapped me in
were made from things I'd done,
and not forgiven myself for.
This secret I was shown.....

A bursting forth within my chest!
I felt as born anew!
“Since I CAN CHANGE
MY dark to light,
that is what I MUST do!”
With arms outstretched,
I held MY darkness;
FEEL-ing ALL OUR PAIN.
"I LOVE YOU JUST BECAUSE, I said.
I LOVE YOU JUST THE SAME!”

The ragged garments
all around me
turned to robes of gold.
In loving SELF,
I'd found the KEY
to wisdom, ages old.

Now, days have passed
since I first met
MY DARKNESS all alone.
Each day, I still return
to see the beauty I was shown.
MY DARKNESS NEEDS MY LIGHT;
AND THEN MY LIGHT
NEEDS DARKNESS TOO.
WE HOLD THEM BOTH.
WE MUST ACCEPT -
THE BALANCE OF THE TWO.

And so I met MY darkness there;
and lived to tell the scene.
Now, HOW LONG SINCE
YOU’VE LOVED YOURSELF?
How long, my friend, it's been!