Remove Not

Remove not these emotions that

you have placed within me

since the day I was created

Remove not the capability to feel happiness, hope,

determination, patience, love and thanksgiving

Remove not the capacity to feel compassion,

to feel that prick of my conscience to do

good and justice instead of evil

But most of all, remove not the ability to cry

when sadness sees fit for tears,

remove not the ability to feel sorrowful,

confused and lost at times

when my emotions seem to tether

between reality and a

self-conjured wall of security

Remove not the yearning to be

the person you want me to be and even more than that,

remove not the urge to make a difference in this life and

banish notions of wanting to just exist, breathe and eat

remove not these feelings that give me

a personality and character

That I may never lose the gift

you have placed within me

the difference that separates me from the animals and plants

You have given me a soul that is capable

of feeling the good and also the bad

a soul that rages against the unfairness of life

a soul that weeps when it is afflicted

a soul that learns day by day

to depend on you for renewal

restoration and redemption

Remove not the part of me

that makes me human, my friend

Remove not my feelings despite the pain

because without the pain

I would not have learnt to reach for you

for comfort and unfailing love

Remove not these feelings for they become

the stepping stones for me

stairways to honesty and acknowledgement

of the times when I fail

that you were there to accept

the wretched fool that I am

Remove them not, my friend

remove them not