Testify

Testify!
Stand flat-footed, look me in the eyes and tell me
the truth
about you.

Not the truth
         as you want me to know it
         or as you wished it had gone down
        or as you want your grandkids to hear it.
Not the censored-for-church truth.
But the truth as it really was.

Truth requires courage,
and the most courageous truth one can tell is the truth about the self.

The truth
     that you slept with more folks than you have fingers and toes
The truth
     that you lied and cheated just as easily as you inhale and exhale
The truth
    that you shot that dude in the corner store and you still worry that somebody will find out
The truth
    that you have a criminal record just as long as your micro-braids
The truth
     that you smiled in that girl's face before you violated her
The truth
    that you (a woman) let that other girl touch you and you can't stand yourself anymore because you liked it
The truth
     that you still turn over in the night and taste that vodka in your dreams
the truth
     that you feel an old, familiar longing when the guy on the bus walks past you smelling like weed
The truth
     that stuff YOU don't even like to remember that you did
The truth
     that real deal, the stuff God knows and fully forgives

Tell THAT truth

We know you done went to the river, the water was cold, it chilled your body, but not your soul.
We know the angels in heaven done changed your name.
We know it was the blood for you.
We know you got a little light and you want to let it shine.

But can you sing us the real song of overcoming?
Can you belt the tune that only you can sing?
Will you tell us the lyrics to your life?

And maybe
if you testify
someone who feels crushed down
can rise
 instead of feeling
unworthy
because they see you
now
and can't imagine you
then
when you were
what you are--
no longer--
but only by the grace of God.

Is there anybody here
who will
TESTIFY?