Chill winds have
sculpted the crag,
ancient fires have
hollowed the rock.
Pain is my mother--
Eternity is my father.

The sun gives me a
thousand broken shards
of splendor, the moon
offers a pure soft light.
Defiance kindles,
Destiny ignites.

Cornelian flames
inscribe my wings
with runes of benediction.
I burn as I have lived
without the thrust of regrets
without the ache to forget.

Blackening feathers,
shed rainbows,
becoming gray ash.
I offer the universe
one last song--
too fierce to forget.

My shadow thickens,
I gather the embers
that witnessed my death,
I sweep up the hard stare
of agates for a prize,
Once more, they are my eyes.

I am the phoenix--reborn.