Where once there was a stagnant air
I sucked into my lungs,
The vibration of your boundless voice,
Shaped by ten thousand tongues
Has shattered particles of light
And split the atoms in the air.
My oxygen has come to me
And I am new aware:
I'm breathing in and out again
And bidden to look on;
I'm asked to breathe your presence in,
And out into a song.
But more than that, you ask of me
To let my heart keep time
In tune with every breath I take
And thaw to match the clime.
So then: if I'm to let it beat,
Grow warm, and be beheld,
You'll continue in your fight against
This pride, so newly felled.
This fear, which froze my heart before
Has fought to win it back.
You alone, most faithful one
Have everything I lack.
If this is so, and you've restored
The air fresh-washed with rain,
Then let your glory light take hold
And wash out every stain.
Where once there was a poisoned air
My lungs take in your love.
The beating of my heart alone
Was never quite enough.
postscript
It's so nice to move from a dark and stifling circumstance to one where I can breathe more easily, and think more clearly. But I know that it's not just that the season changed, or that I made any choices to fix it. It was all God's intervention: He came in and breathed new life.