The Eyes, The Mind, The Heart

Searching, wandering 
my jigsaw edges squeezed into shape.
Eighteen with unsettled dreams 
I crammed into place.
Enroll and see, pay me 
and I’ll give you  the key 
to knowledge and security.  
The lectures were laughable 
I simply didn’t fit.

All around, ignobility drowning me,
so I took to optometry 
The eyes, the window to the soul,
the place to start.
I peered into pupils, I learned the ropes.
It was then that faith was revealed to me.
Veil uplifted, I looked to God,
grew roots and branches to carry the seed.

The northern lighthouse I followed
and docked in Maine.
Redirected, the compass guided me
to a year of counseling.
Tragedies, addictions, ailments.
Riddled souls walking that lonesome valley.
Having walked it myself 
I reached into the shadows, offered a hand.
Beautiful people in a broken world 
Told they have an innately broken mind 
Thinking they can not be fixed
The cracks they suffered, secondhand
From a system rooting against them
Hope and prayer for the light
To touch and heal these minds

I was told God is the doctor of the heart
it’s no wonder cardiology appeals to me.
A year at the hand of the oculus 
under the optometrist’s pledge. 
A year holding hands with mental suffering.
A year ahead of me 
learning from devoted healers
Giving EKGs.
A journey it’s been and a journey it’ll be.
God I thank you for these opportunities
give me the strength to serve you and your people diligently.