Rising

Rising

Eric Campos

I’m falling

The world is spinning,

My spirit is crashing,

I’m crumbling to the ground.

               

I was walking the road,

Far from home,

I was walking alone,

And the burdens brought me down,

Stone in the water.

Pain brought me to my knees,

I was an outcast, fallen.

The road had become like raging seas,

And I was lost.

Pummeling waves, tempest blows,

Stinging rain lashes my back,

As I lay broken on life’s trail,

Heavy sadness, betrayal, they engulf my sight.

The light of hope begins to black,

I cannot do it. I am defeated.

And then…

A hand.

It grasped my shoulder and brought me to my feet,

And the pain began to quell,

I no longer fell.

The light of hope returned in my sight,

I could continue the road, the fight,

I wasn’t alone,

I had a friend at my side.

There were trials still,

And pain ahead,

Many, many, more.

But as before, I had presences to keep me strong,

To give me faith.

I’m rising.

For Nick, and Mom, and all my family and friends who have stood by me, and given me the inspiration to rise to my feet every time. May the Author Of All Things, guide and protect you all.

Fate or Fault

Eric Campos

In this ending time I spell my rhyme,

And wonder what brought the world to its fate.

Was it the time, the date, the Creator called end?
Was it prophesy that spelled our demise?
That blackened the skies?
That destroyed the land?
That drove the sea to its barren state?
Was it a trumpet call that sounded Man’s fall,
Or was the Man himself to blame?

Is it the shame of Man,
The fall of his own world?
Is Man’s own hand the weapon of his destruction?
Can one’s hands still mold redemption?
For ourselves?
For the world we live in?
Does Man not carve his own path?