The Hardest Road
The Hardest Road
I grew believing something deep inside,?That I was broken, with no place to hide?Not good enough, not worth the air I drew,?A heart that doubted all it tried to do.
Yet still I rose each morning with a smile,?To carry others burdens every mile?I'd give my last if someone else had none,?And call it joy when all was said and done
Then you appeared, my girl, my heart, my wife,?The greatest blessing I have known in life?I'd choose you every time, through joy or pain,?I'd live it all and love you just the same
Our children came, the treasures of our days,?The brightest lights that filled my darkest maze?I'd stand between them and the fiercest storm,?To keep them safe, protected, loved and warm
But somewhere on the road I lost my way,?And let addiction steal my soul away.?The man I swore I'd never come to be?Was staring back each day accusing me
I caused you hurt that words could never mend,?And broke the trust on which our lives depend.?No one else carries blame for what I chose?The fault is mine I know it, Heaven knows.
I wear that truth with neither mask nor shield,?For honesty's the only way to heal.?I'd never place my failures in your hands,?They're mine alone I finally understand.
Yet every time I speak about the past,?I'm dragged beneath its shadow, held so fast?The guilt reminds me of the man I was,?And whispers I am only that because
It tells me I'm still rotten to the core,?The same lost soul who hurt the ones he swore?To cherish, guard and love through every year?It feeds itself on sorrow, shame and fear
They say that I should learn to let it go,?That healing comes more quickly than I know?But how can I accept that I am free,?When those I love still carry scars from me?
I cannot let my weary spirit rest?Until I know their hearts have found their best?Until my wife can smile without the pain,?And all my children's joy has bloomed again
Recovery was never just the fight?To leave addiction fading from my sight?The hardest road that I have walked by far?Is wondering if they'll heal from every scar
So every day I'll choose the harder climb,?Not asking for forgiveness before its time?I'll earn it in the way I choose to live,?Through steady hands, through all I have to give.
And if one day they look at me and see?A man no longer chained by who he'd been,?Perhaps I'll find the grace I've searched to find,?And finally leave those prison walls behind
Until that day I'll carry hope instead,?Though guilt still echoes loudly in my head?For love is not the man I used to be ?Love is becoming who they deserve to see
Copyright © Andrew Norris | Year Posted 2026
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