We are Happy

xii. beside you

three things put my heart at peace
as i aim to match your dance, beside you
your presence: close enough to see your shadow
your smile: close enough to know your love
your words: close enough to hear you speak
these things build the floor beneath me
as you train my feet to dance, beside you

xiii. storm

i’m not afraid of the rain like i used to be

cowering in corners of the room not to see it, never understanding the comfort people felt in the reach of a storm, never seeking shelter in the rain, never knowing it
why does God thunder?
you roll the heavens out as a scroll and you paint them in light, but i feared it. i feared you in feral feeling, written in my body, hated the torrent of water against the window, the whistle of wind passing by
why do storms pass?

a God crowned with sovereignty doesn’t need permission

but you still sympathize with my condition - small and weak within my limits, made your glory to share it not to hoard it with a body you’ll inhabit, make it one and have it, gifted, to inherit
why does God think of me?
lightning rips the sky in two and you know me. hidden under covers but not hidden from you, you reach down and comfort when you do not have to, with unwavering holiness you don’t dim your light, you expand it, where i thought it’d destroy me you command it, it conforms me, i’m unhanded
i don’t hold my strength
and my fear falls to the ground when I fear you alone. why does my heart set its eyes on empty thrones when only you determine my fate? i see you

and no longer fear the rain, face to face