BY THE OCEAN SHORE and SELF-FULFILLED PROPHECY

BY THE OCEAN SHORE

by matt burns

I’m standing barefoot by the shore

The sound of the waves crashing

The ocean breathing in and out

The earth’s lungs inhaling and exhaling

I’m no longer at war with judgment

The judgment from the outside world

From friends

From parents

From family

From the news personalities

And the celebrity personalities

And the TV Doctors

And the talk-show hosts

And the politicians

And the priests

I no longer have to constantly be on guard

And ready to shield myself from the great, sharp swords

Those swords that the aforementioned outside sources

Wield 

And swing my way
And try to pierce my soul with

The fight is long

The fight is hard

The fight is constant

And the fight is oh so tiring

On the ocean shore

With the war against judgment over

And there’s no more pain

From the battle wounds

And I’m no longer so tired

From the fight…

That’s what heaven will be like for me

I close my eyes

And I go to that happy place

And it keeps me going for another day

SELF-FULFILLED PROPHECY

by matt burns

The wife was so worried that something terrible would happen to him

She didn’t know what she’d ever do without him

She constantly feared a day that she would be without her husband

She was constantly worried about him

Even while he was out running simple errands

In the car

Or even by foot

Saturday afternoon was one of those days

He took a little longer getting home from the grocery store

Fear was getting the better of her while she was doing laundry

She decided to text him

Five minutes from home

Her husband heard his smartphone beep

He checked the text

He took his eyes off the road

He veered into the oncoming lane

He crashed head-on with another car

Both drivers died

Her biggest fear

Self-fulfilled

There is a beast that creeps around corners

And lurks in the shadows of your mind

And this beast wrests you from trust and faith

And when you abandon trust and faith

Bad things happen

And you can become the instrument from which those

Bad

Things

Happen

That beast is known as fear