Sacred Contracts XXXIV: Enemy

When I was young(er)          
I despised my 'enemy'                
crushed them with gossip        
       
gloated over failed attempts        
to despoil my happiness        
with their jealous tactics        
       
But, having aged, I realized        
their actions weren't about me        
but themselves        
       
Really; they were never adversaries      
just great teachers instead        
because I've been there;        
       
I've plowed bitter curriculum        
of experience until calcified classrooms        
curled arthritic in resentment        
       
lashed out in blame, sown        
putrid revenge to douse the Light        
emanating from a festive smile        
       
spewed vitriol into gale forces        
of Time, whose asymmetrical hands  
rounded the face of my own demise  
 
Decades of swallowing dust  
from failed crops weakened my resolve  
enough to submit and accept;  
 
to listen and recognize Love  
in each hopeless situation  
I'd brought upon myself  
 
to acknowledge responsibility  
for my own choices leading  
to heartache and loss  
 
to stop blaming everyone else  
for misguided steps  
I alone chose to take  
 
to heed Love's voice and follow  
despite Its pinioned sword  
drawing blood from mistakes  
 
For how can any of us discern  
delicious depth of ripened juice  
without first tasting sour fruit  
 
This is the Holy Grail of Truth:  
We stunt our growth worshipping  
a past that's long forgotten us            
. . .  
 
From the fibers of gnarled carpet  
I prayed and begged for Love;  
It heard and called me forth  
 
Someday, when you're old(er)  
you'll learn ( as I did, the hard way. . .);  
it will also call yours  
 
You'll discern ( as I did )  
you've sabbotaged yourself enough  
and are worthy of so much more  
 
My earnest prayer for you  
is to realize you're not a victim  
to point blame at anyone  
 
But, the Creator of your own reality  
emitting a mirrored back frequency  
whether gratitude or misery  
 
Because you, and only you  
have ever been  
your own worst enemy                
               
~