Reckoning At Midnight

never meant to get so lost Stumble so far away from where I started But I looked up one day to find I recognized nothing around me And my own reflection Stared back with eyes so bitter and haunted I wanted nothing more than to look away But as I held my own gaze Forced myself to admit defeat The reckoning in my soul began I finally admitted to the anger The guilt, the shame, and the hatred That was slowly corroding my soul I put one hand out of the darkness And watched a tiny shaft of light Touch my fingertip I began to let it go I can't outrun all my demons And frankly I'm not sure I want to But I can begin to learn to forgive Those I hate and even myself To heal the wounds that don't go too deep And hope that those who truly love me Will forgive me when I don't always succed And celebrate with me when I do Because if I learned nothing else at all It's that you can't live in the past eternally Nor can you impale yourself forever on your mistakes You must take the steps to change Slowly, timidly, even backwards a few times It's the only way to get anywhere at all