FIREPLACE POETRY

I locked the door behind me

Like I’d locked my heart for years—

Cold tile, cracked light,

My reflection drowning in its tears.

The world outside kept spinning,

But I’d long since slipped the track,

And that night I told my shadow,

“There’s no coming back.”

The gun felt like an answer—

Heavy, final, still.

A whisper in the silence:

Just end the ache, the climb, the hill.

My breath shook like a warning,

But I pressed it to my head;

A heartbeat, then a heartbeat—

Then click… and smoke instead.

Time froze in the bathroom

As the echo didn’t roar.

I knew I pulled that trigger…

But I was still standing on the floor.

My knees buckled in confusion,

My soul trembled in its skin,

When a voice like thundered mercy

Said: “Child… I stepped in.”

I felt Him standing with me—

Not the God I thought was distant,

But the One who holds the universe

Yet cares for every instant.

He whispered, “You are precious.

You are purpose. You are Mine.

And no bullet leaves its chamber

When it’s not your time.”

He showed me every moment

Where I thought I’d been alone—

Every tear dropped in the darkness

Had been counted, had been known.

The world outside was chaos,

But His presence made it clear:

He is sovereign in the whirlwind

And He’s closer than our fear.

I dropped the gun, it shattered

Like the lies that kept me bound.

And there on that cold bathroom floor

My knees found holy ground.

I wept until the sunrise

Broke the shadows off my chest;

I lived because He loved me—

A love fierce, relentless, blessed.

Now I walk a different story,

With a fire I didn’t choose—

Because the night I tried to end my life

God refused to let me lose.

I should’ve died that moment—

But His mercy said I’d live.

So I give Him every heartbeat,

Every breath I have to give.

And when I see another hurting,

Lost in storms they cannot see,

I tell them, “I’ve met the Savior

Who stopped a bullet… just for me.”

Written By: Alex Garvin (Fireplace-Poetry)

About the Poem:

Lately, I’ve been drawn deeper into storytelling—into the kind of stories that grip the heart, shake the soul, and remind us how fragile and powerful life can be. This poem is one of those stories. It follows a moment as raw as it gets: a person standing alone in a bathroom, gun to their head, ready to disappear from the world. They pull the trigger… the smoke rises… but the bullet never comes. And in that breath between despair and death, God steps in. He stops what should have been the end and turns it into a beginning—reminding them they were created with purpose, loved beyond measure, and never unseen. It’s a dramatic, divine interruption that transforms a breaking point into a testimony. This poem is my way of telling that story. I hope you enjoyed the read. If able, please like, share and subscribe to Fireplace Poetry!