Anxiety

I haven't written poetry in years. This morning I wrote a poem. Photo: A pond, dock, and cooler on Nantucket island.

ANXIETY

I quit youFalse loverWe've known each other a long timeI can't remember how we met

Has it been 30 years?Did you promise me, or was it I who made promises to you?You never deliverFalse, faithless friend

I put my trust in youYour reasoning made sense to me:Worry about this, be anxious about thatObsess and fret on these thingsAnd all shall be well, figured out, under control

You liar!Your reasoning unravelsYou've lost your lusterI'm being wooed by a new lover

He speaks a better wordI couldn't hear it before

Too drunk I wasChoosing to sip your sneaky cocktailsMaking myself a god,Usurping the throneYour lying logic runs that deep

I quit youFalse loverA new lover speaks

"I tell you, do not be anxious about your life"

I was blind to the voiceI didn't realize who spoke those words to me"I tell you""I" ?

Who speaks this command?Who issues this invitation?Who dares?Who can say such words?

Then I saw himAnd everything changed

"I tell you," says Jesus

"I tell you," says the second member of the Triune"I tell you," says the One who designed me"I tell you," says the God-man, come from high heaven to this anxious earth"I tell you," says the Savior who sweat blood for me"I tell you," says Immanuel, who is with me"I tell you," says Wise Christ, who knows all things"I tell you," says King Jesus, who reigns and rules over all things,

today and tomorrow and forever

These are his words"I tell you,""do not be anxious about your life"

Jesus speaks against you, anxious AnxietyI have a new loveA new loverHe has taken my trust away from you

Anxiety, I quit youFalse lover