Mistaking the Sky for Home

salvation is my own

Photo by Marin huang on Unsplash

MISTAKING THE SKY FOR HOME

I will ignite my flame even if it burns
Tasting the flavors of immolation
I will offer up my trials
To a God who cannot feel.

I will pose, resplendent,  
Embracing the pleasures of Earth
Allowing passion to overtake me
Molding me into a creature who sheds tears.

Cherishing the delicate and the fragile
I will weep for the fate of dreamers,
I will not clip their wings
For flying too close to the sun,
Heliotropic, they are drawn toward the light.

Jubilant, I sing my songs
Gifted with holy visions
I imagine the cool waters and green fields
Spread across my path
Inviting me to shed the chains of suffering.

Never hopeless, I can choose the meaning of my sins
Defying the mandate of God
Without fear of retribution
I discover my salvation is my own.

Abandoned here by a somber God,
Who has never learned to dance,
I cannot doubt the miracles of Nature
She holds my hand in hours of despair.

Teaching me the lessons of eternal return
She shields me under a cloak of remembrance
Whispering her promise,
“All life is sacred.”

Martyrdom is the escape of the devout
Who live by the book
Rather than by the heart
They gaze at the clouds
Mistaking the sky for home.
© 2026 Stephanie M. Vargo