My Joy

Caught in this joy—it overpowers me,

Lifted from chains, I’ve been set free.

Like iron fetters falling from the freed,

They’ve been thrown off, cast into the sea.

I once cloaked myself in deceptive grief,

That had slipped in, unobserved, like a thief,

I’d wrapped it close to me, in rest,

And let it strangle my very breath.

I often drank from it’s poisoned streams,

And sewed in envy it’s wicked seams.

But freed—at last, I wonder how

I ever thought I’d keep it, now.

For joy has made me skip, and sing,

And soar up with its faithful wings.

I will not fall in dark despair,

For now, my place is in the air.

Let others laugh at my strange ways,

And they can cry in pain their days,

But I shall laugh more merrily

For having traded misery.