Dual Duel

Facing down demons, rising above quicksand, overcoming obstacles and improving my outlook

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Romans 12:21

Part One: Outward Facing

“Round and round and round we go
Where it stops nobody knows
In the end we lose control
But right now we're invincible…”
          - OneRepublic

Evil once crawled, slithered – now sprints, tainting all.
         Define “invincible” between gunshots ricocheting.
When “agree to disagree” crumbles to “agree or die,”
         Vitriolic tsunamis unleashed by gnarled lone rangers,
How do I voice my shaking stand, neither left nor right proclaiming
         when stable center stage is flooded downstream?
Friendships cross belief spectrums – tongue bleeds with words unspoken –
         Silence breeds suspicion, speech shoves cemented wedges.
Invincibility – awareness of shattered logic on both sides,
         calling out corrosive behavior undermining progress,
While maintaining bonds helicoptering over party lines.
         Peace: holding space for free engagement,
Accepting all, welcoming honesty, yet denouncing flawed ideas.
         I will not embroil in petty squabbles: I will think, speak, act
With quiet wisdom, kindly presence, openness of heart,
         Refusing to be offended by threadbare, unwashed brokenness.
Invincibility – standing unsplintered against infernos,
         Seeing common humanity in watercolored “others.”

Part Two: Inward Facing

“Twenty seven years and I've nothing to show
Fallen from the dove to the dark of the crow
But looking to the ways of the ones before me
Looking for the path of the young and lonely…”
         - Imagine Dragons

I constantly fail at being myself – I know not who I am.
         What do I stand for – why can't I be normal?
Words fail me: I freeze in front of strangers, flunk interviews
         Embarrass myself, hide behind screens – a scarred hermit.
Questions burn holes in wrinkled hopes, expired tickets
         to promised success I didn't dare aspire to.
Late, now – decrepitude waves crooked fingers in my face
         Mocking what I could've been if only I'd worn the right shoes.
Grab fleeting years before they flee forever – step out of self's chains.
         My head's on alright – no obstacles I face can compare
To eon's untold legacies of anguish of those who reframed history.
         Defeat intrusive spirits of despair, rage, destructiveness
By building fresh neural pathways of “I can and I will!”
         I hold my head higher: I am brave, bright, beautiful.
A poet, a friend, an artist, a thinker, a seeker and creator, a godly lady.
         Invincibility – when I'm in the mud, don't wallow: wrestle.
Quicksand is illusory – it only drags me down when I panic.
         Write with bold sharpie in front of mind's eye: I Am Invincible.

324 words, 36 lines (excluding quotes and verse headings)
Free verse
Written for "INVICTUS~25 𝓦𝓇𝓲𝓽𝓲𝓃𝓰" 
Prompt: Invictus: 25 years and going strong.