Trembling towards the Sun

How much distance and difference is there
Between a mountain and a molehill?

And how far are you determined to climb
To insure your problems amount to blessings in the end?

How tenacious is your will to peace?
How deep is your reservoir of faith?

When you weep with me
Do so not out of sorrow
But exultation
And know that even in our suffering

There shines a light of salvation.
How many skeletons are there living in your closet

That rattle bones when you can’t sleep at night?
And how tired are the dragons that guard the secrets

Hiding in the shadows that haunt your soul?
How dedicated is your tongue to truth?

How strong is your resolve in the fire?
When you dance with me
Do so not in half steps
But full measure

And know that every movement
Guides us closer to the stars.

How many millstones hang around your neck
As you drag your cross from earth to sea to sky?

And how many psalms do you recite in darkness
As a prayer for healing to arrive with dawn?

How inspired is your passion?
How embedded is your urge to ascend?

When you sing with me
Do so not in low key
But high spirits
And know that this language of lyrics
Is born of revival.

Scott Thomas Outlar

Scott Thomas Outlar hosts the site 17Numa.com where links to his published poetry, fiction, essays, interviews, reviews, live events, and books can be found. His work has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net. Outlar was a recipient of the 2017 Setu Magazine Award for Excellence in the field of literature. Selections of his poetry have been translated into Afrikaans, Albanian, Dutch, Italian, French, Persian, and Serbian. He has been a weekly contributor for the cultural newsletter Dissident Voice since 2014. His most recent book, Abstract Visions of Light, was released in 2018 through Alien Buddha Press. His show, Songs of Selah, airs weekly on 17Numa Radio.

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