my enemy

The shining glint of silver caught my eye,
Danced like a flame inside my mind.
When I was so cold and lost in night
It called out to me, drawing me closer,
Closer to the edge.
Twisting, twisting my words
Into a pattern fed by hurt,
Locked into a rhyme, a shape
A rhythm I could not escape.

It said
"Your bondage I'll break, relief I'll send,
I'm not your enemy."
But the verse I wrote with that bloody pen
Was anything but free.
How did I let the hero become
My self-destructive deeds?
I suppose that when the day was done
My enemy was me.

Trapped in days of endless rhyme,
Addicted to the sounds-
Carefully crafting perfect lines,
Syllables and wounds.
What would it take to break away
From what I had become?
Feeding myself with the pain,
Motionless and numb.

Then He said
"Your bondage I'll break, relief I'll send,
You can trust in me.
I've written it on the hearts of men,
The truth will set you free."
So I traded my knives and blades for a sword
That didn't slit or sting.
The sword of the Spirit, God's holy word,
Gave me a new song to sing.

Words not formed on my own tongue,
You've made your music mine.
Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs,
Now breaking from the rhyme.