Poetry by Joshua Hope:

We are united in a dance. The lot of us. Some of us only in for a glance.

The forbidden tragedy of an eternal prison,

Is our fate.

It is not the cold, lifeless stone 

of a jail cell that confines us. 

Sad!

It is the flesh, the very mind of our own being.

Trapped.

A solitary confinement awaits,

Our sentence simply for being traumatized.

Each of us holds a pain unbearable. 

Untold. Darkness. An unapologetic darkness.

A story that holds that key to our existence.

A story, forgotten, neglected.

How long? Will my sentence endure forever? 

Seems a weighty punishment for my sorrow.

Simply, for my sorrow. 

Here!

An opening!

It looks promising.

Some light! 

Maybe it is in fact light and not deception.

I panic. My breath halts.

What is this light?

It becomes unbearable.

How can I see? 

It has become so bright.

Until, the light encapsulates me in its aura.

Until, I am not longer an essence of my own. 

Only a vibrant extension of its source.

Joy! A voice.

Long forgotten. Yet so close. Familiar.

It beckons. I return the call.

I am still alone. 

I wait.

I call out. 

I have met a friend. 

I have met God. 

I have met myself. 

Nothing as precious could be found in all the world. 

A figure, emerging from the light draws in, whispering, softly,

Next to my own ear. He says:

"In time, little one, special one, you will come to know the God who loves you. I have come into this confinement of yours to show you Jesus."

The dance ceased suddenly.

I was able to release my grasp.

Integration! 

I am free!