FIRST WORDS BY: GEMMIA L. VANZANT

One day my soul just opened up

and things started happenin'

things I can't quite explain

I mean

I cried and cried like never before

I cried tears of ten thousand mothers

I couldn't even feel anything because

I cried 'til I was numb.

One day my soul just opened up

I felt this overwhelming pride

what I was proud of

only God knows!

Like the pride of a hundred thousand

fathers

basking in the glory of their newborn

sons

I was grinnin' from ear to ear!

One day my soul just opened up

I started laughing

and I laughed for what seemed like

forever

wasn't nothin' particularly funny goin' on

but I laughed anyhow

I laughed the joy of a million children

playin'

in the mud

I laughed 'til my sides ached

Oh God! It felt so good!

One day my soul just opened up

There were revelations, annihilations,

and resolutions

feelings of doubt and betrayal, vengeance

and forgiveness

memories of things I'd seen and done

before

of places I'd been, although I didn't

know when

there were lives I'd lived

people I'd loved

battles I'd fought

victories I'd won

and wars I'd lost.

One day my soul just opened up

and out poured all the things

I'd been hiding

and denying

and living through

that had just happened moments before.

One day my soul just opened up

and I decided

I was good and ready!

I was good and ready

to surrender

my life

to God.

So, with my soul wide open,

I sat down

wrote Her a note

and told her so.

Gemmia L. Vanzant