The War Within

How do you fight a terror
Which has no face?
How do you run from a foe
Which will never give up the chase?
They battle not with swords
Nor guns or knives.
They fight with nightmares,
Illusions, and lies.
They strike not at the body,
But at the heart and mind,
Breaking the spirit,
One dream at a time.

How can victory be obtained,
Fought totally in thought?
The eternal sense of strife
Letting no peace be sought.
Ideals of happiness
Torn apart by despair,
Goals just out of reach,
Love painfully spare.
How can one quell the storm
Which rages within?
Heart versus mind,
Neither foe nor friend.

I fight them with words,
Through prose and verse.
Stories of brighter days,
Breaking my curse.
I battle with song,
Notes from a single guitar
Easing the soul,
With each musical bar.
I fight them with help,
From a friend so dear.
I find solitude in prayer,
And the spreading of cheer.

Yet still the battle rages,
And likely forever will
Never completely ending,
Never totally still.
I hope for revelation,
For enlightenment and love,
For peace and solitude,
For guidance from above.
I pray for the knowledge
And the courage I seek,
To emerge as the man,
Whom I need to be.