These Are the Things I Can Do Without

These Are the Things I Can Do Without

by Kateb  Shunnar

There are some things in life I’ve learned I don’t need to carry anymore.

Not in my pockets, not in my chest, not even in the dusty corners of my thoughts.

I can live without the weight of grudges, without the noise of people who speak only to be heard and not to understand.

I can live without bargains that cost me my peace, without applause that comes with invisible strings tied to my back.

And I can most certainly live without selling my soul when the winds turn cold and the nights get long.

See, I’ve been through seasons where trouble knocked on my door like a tax collector who didn’t care if I had enough left to eat.

There were moments the world seemed ready to trade my spirit for a handful of coins and call it a good deal.

But here’s the thing your soul is not some pawn-shop trinket.

It’s your compass. Your heartbeat. The thread tying you back to the Creator.

And if you trade it away, you don’t just lose a part of yourself… you lose the very map that could’ve led you home.

I remember my own ocean.

Days and nights drifting out there, not a scrap of land in sight, just the constant slap of waves reminding me how small I was.

The sea has a way of talking to you. It tells you patience isn’t optional. It tells you there’s more beneath the surface than you’ll ever see from the deck.

And oh, how I dreamed of the shore

Not just a strip of sand, but a place where my feet could stand steady, where I could finally breathe without tasting salt and longing.

The day I reached that shore, it wasn’t fireworks or grand music.

It was the quiet thump of my heart telling me, You made it.

The same heart that had beat through the storms, through the long nights of not knowing, through the temptation to give up.

And in that moment, I realized

It’s not the ocean you remember most.

It’s the fact you didn’t let it take you.

So these are the things I can do without:

The heavy chains of fear.

The false comfort of easy lies.

The hungry hands that only take.

But the things I will never give up

The steady hand of the Creator.

The quiet dignity of a soul kept whole.

And the dream of that shore, waiting beyond the horizon.

Poem —The Shore Within

by Kateb

I’ve seen the seas when the skies turn black,

Felt the pull of the tide that wants no one back.

I’ve heard the bargains the darkness sings,

Promising gold while it steals your wings.

But I held my compass, worn but true,

Pointing me always to skies of blue.

I kept my soul from the merchant’s hand,

And steered my heart toward promised land.

For storms may rage and the nights run long,

But the weakest whisper can outlast the strong.

The shore is nearer than eyes can see,

It’s carved in the spirit, it lives in me.

So I’ll keep my faith and I’ll guard my flame,

Through trials that call me by broken name.

For I’ve learned one truth that the deep can’t drown

The soul that stays whole will always be found.

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