I Came to Love

When I was a child, I didn’t know the weight I carried.

No road maps on the kitchen table, no coins in the jar.

Not enough food, not enough arms to hold back the darkness.

Family thunder echoed in the hallway, alcohol shouting anger and fear.

And I called it normal life, like a stray dog calls an alley home.

No plans for my future, no dreams nailed to my wall.

Just bare feet on a cold floor, waiting for the next fall.

When I was born, I felt invisible to those who created and birthed me.

No celebration, no joyful welcome.

A ghost in my own house, sleeping with the shadows.

Yet there was hope, always hope, like a coin in a beggar’s pocket.

Love lived within me, even on the darkest nights.

Hope never walked alone.

I felt something Divine within.

I always knew, knew it like the sun will rise tomorrow,

That I was destined to find love and give a greater love back.

Not a borrowed cup, but a river pouring from my hands.

Even when the cup came back empty, I loved anyway.

Because that’s the road this soul chose before the first breath.

Now I’ve learned what the old monks chant:

It isn’t where you begin, it’s how you end your life that matters.

I came in silent, unseen,

But I know my DNA carried a greater message of love,

And I sang it all my life.

And when I am no longer here,

Let them remember the love I scattered like seed on a barren hill.

And let them continue spreading that message of love and hope.

I have spent my days giving, even when it gave me nothing in return.

Loved anyway, because that is who I am.

I came here to love and to give, and to serve.

I am satisfied.

And that, my friends, that is enough.