Exhaling

With no introduction necessary, I think, here is the third sonnet from “Seven Sonnets Through the Dark” –

In tenebris
(in darkness)
“Cloud and darkness are His raiment…A fire prepares His path.” Psalm 97

Bereft of light and rock I yet hold fast
To the finest outstrung thread of what defined me.
I know this turbid umbra cannot last
And espy the burning tears and sand behind me.
I long to have the grace of ever-yes,
But it takes heroic effort just to hold,
Encinctured with the sins I’ve oft confessed
And all the doubt and shadow yet untold.
Yet deep within the blaze of secret fire
Which guides His sheep beyond this self bedim,
The flame He set on earth still burns, inspires
Those He’s called to come and follow Him.
All that once was gain I count as loss;
The only way through darkness is the cross.