I’ve seen the face of despair
the bone-crunching, spirit-draining
moments of chaos,
I’ve been there.
I’ve experienced the numbing sensations
of emotion-crumbling, sorrow-filled
days of anguish,
I’ve been there.
The tears of love from a parent,
the cries of torment for
a loved one
the why? and how come it happened?
I’ve been there.
Yes, I’ve seen the face of Satan
trying to turn man against wife,
son against son
but I know we’ll win this raging war,
God is on our side.
© Richard L. Provencher
First published 1993
Around the Planet Anthology
Canadian Troubadour Publishing Company
Sarnia, Ontario ISBN 0-921734-06-9
Note: This poem was written to acknowledge
the massive amount of love and patience
we needed to provide our youngest son,
adopted at the age of nine.
Comments
Rhiannonw | August 18, 2011 - 18:56
Very moving and honest. Reminiscent of struggles we knew when our youngest son was struggling with Asperger-type symptoms (and we were struggling), which I tried to summarise in verse recently on here.
Richard L. Prov... | August 19, 2011 - 01:56
Bless you, Rhiannonw---I believe each of us who have walked through the fire come out refined and become a lantern for others who need encouragement to deal with their own family struggles. Richard LP