This Thing Called Grace

You need this,
she said unexpectedly,
peering into my troubled eyes,
this woman, this casual acquaintance,
apparently aware of my circumstance,
the one which had been draining,
straining, and mercilessly
maiming me.
The days ground on
and her words kept rattling,
reverberating in my abused brain
like the endless taunts
of a childhood bully.
But as I continued
to encounter “my circumstance,”
these “taunts” gradually morphed into a mantra
and letting go became a little easier each day,
sleep a little sounder,
and I began to understand
surrender as if for the first time
and to celebrate anew this mystery,
this thing called grace.

© 2015 Dennis Ference