To Whom It May Concern and Why

I want to look life straight in the eye

Be who you see, with nothing to hide

I don’t want to be half-me, half-fraud

I want to live like today

Is the day I am meeting God

It’s not always easy to be who we are

The strike of a serpent can leave ugly scars

I want to live with conscience set free

From who I once was

Or who, without grace I would be

I want to laugh, without guilt's discontent

I want to preach what I practice, Lord-lent

I don’t want to blush with heart-pounding fear

Should someone uncover

The other me beneath my veneer

No, I want to meet life stride for stride

And live as if time was not on my side

Once I was lost, but now I’m set free

I want each day to say thank-you, God

From the one and only me

© Janet Martin