Hiding in the Shadows of Why (part 2)
(Part 2 of Hiding in the shadows of why)
Stepping into the Light
I used to carry this name like a heavy, rusted iron key,
A jagged collection of letters that never belonged to me.
Schnadelbach—a word attached to me to make me feel small,
A weight I drug down every church and courtroom hall.
I thought if I buried the consonants, I’d bury the shame,
That I could rewrite my spirit by shedding the name.
But the dust on the pavement has a way of settling down,
And light doesn’t ask permission from the rules in this town.
I looked at the letters again, not through their harsh eyes,
But through the truth of the grit it took to survive.
This name isn’t the hands that tried to hold me in place;
It’s the forge and the fire, the truth and the grace.
I accepted the weight, and found it turned into wings.
You can’t break a spirit when you learn why it sings.
The lesson was simple, though hard-fought and deep:
No man holds the ledger of the soul that I keep.
The scar isn’t ugly—it’s where the light enters in,
The place where the story of freedom begins.
So I’ll sign every line with the full, unbent sound,
No longer hiding, no longer bound.
Schnadelbach isn’t a shadow or a seal on a cage;
It’s just the raw power of turning the page.
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