Shattered Lens

I don't see the world the way I used to see, there's a crack in the glass looking back at me. Every quiet room has a hidden door, every sudden sound has a little more war. I read every face like a coded threat, hear words people never even said. I watch for the shift, for the change in the air, for the shadow moving that nobody knows is there. I don't mean to flinch, I don't mean to pull away, but my body learned fear in a permanent way. Even when the sun lays gold on the ground, I'm still listening hard for the incoming sound. I know I'm here. I know I'm safe. But my body remembers Another place. Through a shattered lens, I learned to survive. Through a shattered lens, I kept myself alive. But the same glass that guarded me Can keep me from the light. I'm learning how to see again, One mercy at a time. Love can look like danger when your heart's been trained, peace can feel suspicious when you're used to pain. A soft hand reaches and I still brace, like kindness might turn with a different face. I've mistaken calm for the eye of the storm, mistaken silence for the shape of war. I've stood in safe rooms with my back to the wall, still waiting for the next thing to fall. People say, "You're home now, let it go," like time can command what the body knows. But some men come back with a map in their skin, trying to find the way out again. So Lord, take the pieces I could not repair. The memories, the mourning, The thousand-yard stare. Wash what is wounded. Name what is true. Let me see this life The way You do. Not blind to the danger. Not chained to the past. Not calling it healing To pretend it didn't last. Give me eyes for the morning. Give me breath for today. Teach this soldier's heart There is another way. Through a shattered lens, I learned to survive. Through a shattered lens, I made it home alive. But I don't want the war To be all that I see. There's still a man beneath the wreckage, Still a soul inside of me. I'm learning the light, I'm learning the room, I'm learning that peace doesn't always mean doom. I'm learning the sky can burn without threat, I'm learning to live with what I can't forget. Through a shattered lens, I'm still finding the view, still learning the world can be beautiful too. Through a shattered lens, I learned to survive. Through a shattered lens, I made it home alive.