The Beast comes back time and again

I’ve got nothing left to say

I’ve bid Her, oh-so-bitterly,

An “I-swear-I-said

Good Day.”

And I should know by now

By now

By now

I have travelled far enough Down

This road of heathen roads

To simply Know, to simply Know

To simply know

By now…

Shutting Her down with a Go Away

Don’t do nothin’ to ease Her pain

But something in me keeps Hoping

Keeps expecting things to change

Like, perhaps the Tiger in the cage

Just…won’t show up today

And I am lucky

I guess

That there’ve been days

When I locked The Beast inside

Unlucky

I guess

The cage that’s locked

Resides within my mind

The paradox:

I seek control while wishing things would change

I have come to understand:

Life just don’t work that way

So I have learned to tolerate insufferable suffering

By doing The Thing that’s The Hardest Thing:

Not letting go of me

And the difference is the Hanging On…

It Changes Everything

‘Cause the suffering has meaning, I have built my strength

The Beast returns, gets out Her cage,

Wild with Her insatiable Rage

But it is I who holds the whip

And She is Mine to tame

So when she roars and bares her gleaming, razor-fangs

I do not run from Her, afraid

I meet her gaze, think ‘bring it on,’

A grin begins to play

I give a tiny nod, instead —

A challenge to The Beast I’ve tamed

Offer Her, respectfully:

An welcoming

“Good Day.”