I was like a little girl standing,
fists clenched in a yellow sundress
upon a cliffside in the middle of a storm.
There I was, convinced I was all powerful,
all-knowing, all-good.
Really what I was doing was no more than
screaming at the heavens,
arguing with the clouds,
ordering the world to stop turning,
trying to make the winds stop
or at least change direction.
I shouted until my lungs hurt,
everything ached, and my voice gave out,
yet still I screamed.
Finally, defeated, I shut up one day
and hit my knees in prayer.
Slowly, the winds quieted, the clouds moved,
the sun warmed my cold body,
and my pains were taken from me.
It was then I knew what it meant to
surrender.

© Crystal S. McDonald.