Sonnet Sunday 32: In Mud

I don’t remember the exact context for this sonnet. It must have been a bad week at work. I can tell you that it was—obviously—inspired by that parable or poem of the two prisoners: one looked down and saw only mud, the other looked up and saw only stars. This sonnet should illuminate how I feel about that.

In Mud

Written September 21, 2012

I know I have no right to feel this way—
Unloved, upset, depressed, a little tired—
At play, I’m restless; at work, uninspired—
My heart is hampered; hope seems far away—
And just because things went a little wrong!
I am no David—no king out for blood;
No Noah, watching world destroyed by flood;
No, just an average girl who goes along
With head so far in clouds, she fails to spot
The normal bumps and cracks upon the road.
So, stumbling, she will often drop her load,
Thus falling and lamenting her dark lot.
Lord, grant me courage this truth to accept:
The man who saw but stars in mud still stepped.

Photo by Josh Calabrese on Unsplash