RUNT (UPDATED)

I WAS THE RUNT,
NOT QUITE LIKE KING DAVID WAS,
NOT IN SIZE.
JUST IN SPIRIT
AND LACK OF ATTENTION.
YOU SEE,
MY OLDER SISTER WAS SICK.
SO I WAS PLANTED IN THE CORNER
AND MADE TO FEEL INVISIBLE,
ALWAYS TOLD TO JUST BE QUIET ALREADY.

BUT EARLY ON,
I STARTED TO WRITE POETRY.
IN FACT I WON A FIRST-PLACE TROPHY
FOR THE VERY FIRST POEM I WROTE
IN FIRST GRADE.
IT WAS CALLED,
"HOW LONG IS A PIECE OF STRING?"
THIS WAS AROUND THE TIME I WAS SAVED.

TRAIN THEM UP,
THE GOOD BOOK SAYS,
NOT TO FOLLOW IN YOUR FOOTSTEPS,
BUT TO BE AN INDIVIDUAL,
THE WAY GOD MADE THEM TO BE.

I RECENTLY DISCOVERED
THAT NOT ONLY A DISTANT RELATIVE OF MINE
WHOM I CALL GRANDMA BETTIE,
ALONG WITH MY FATHER'S MOTHER,
GRANDMA BILLIE,
WROTE POETRY TOO.

ALL THIS TIME
I HAVE FELT LIKE SUCH AN OUTCAST.

IT IS AMAZING,
I THINK TO MYSELF,
HOW GOD EVENTUALLY
USED THIS GIFT.

I ALLOWED GOD TO MOVE FREELY IN MY LIFE,
AND I FOLLOWED IN HIS GENEROUS FOOTSTEPS,
AND SO I WRITE AND I WRITE AND I WRITE,
AND,
ASTONISHINGLY,
MY SIMPLE POETRY
HAS BEEN READ BY PEOPLE
ALL OVER THIS MORTAL COIL.

MY PRAYER
IS THAT IF YOU ARE READING THIS NOW,
YOU ARE TOUCHED BY MY SIMPLE WORDS,
AND THAT YOU KNOW I'M JUST ME,
A DAUGHTER OF THE MOST HIGH KING.

I PRAY THAT YOU NEVER HAVE TO BE
HURT BY THOSE THAT SHOULD LOVE YOU THE MOST,
THAT YOU NEVER FEEL THE PAIN OF THEIR REJECTION.

BUT IF YOU DO,
JUST KNOW THAT JESUS
IS RIGHT BY YOUR SIDE,
WAITING FOR YOU TO OPEN YOUR HEART
AND LET HIM IN.

AND THAT IS WHEN THE STRUGGLES END.

I ALSO PRAY
THAT YOU ARE SURROUNDED BY GOD'S ANGELS
AND WRAPPED IN HIS COMFORTING WINGS.

I THESSALONIANS 5:11
THEREFORE ENCOURAGE ONE ANOTHER
AND BUILD EACH OTHER UP,
JUST AS IN FACT YOU ARE DOING