Strength

She is Broken
Like jewels shattered into pieces
Not as sweet as Reese's Pieces
More bitter than chocolate that's 100% pure
Potent is a great descriptor
As I shower in her wisdom
Untold stories
That are nightmares turned to life
A sharp pain in the night
As you step on broken pieces
Trying to pick up all the pieces
To put pieces back again
But it forms a different picture
Not the same
And not too different
Like a mistranslated scripture
That's its own type of sin
Cracks can be refilled
But the fractures can't be mended
But we can always be rebuilt
So if she falls I'll build again
But I'd rather not rebuild
So I'll try not to drop the ball
And to minimize her falls
With a stable resting place
Yet I am haunted by my conscience
And the simple fact that I
Cannot be there to catch her
When she falls every time.

Perspective on the Poem:
I wrote this poem during one of my hardest weeks at the prison. One of my favorite ladies there attempted suicide. It taught me a very valuable lesson than anyone who works in ministry should learn, people are not objects and you can't fix them. This incident really broke my heart. I held in my emotions as best I could all day and when I got home that night, I broke down and cried like a baby. Only after a heart to heart with my coworker did I come to truly realize that the amount of love and effort you put into a person is not the only determining factor in their lives and sometimes, sadly, you are not enough.