New Chapter

Herein begins my new chapter

I arise from years of darkened slumber.
My hand shakes slightly as I wake,
fearful of the morning's call.
On my lips, the promise of song trembles to the surface.

I have waited in this forge,
Ever hardened, ever tempered,
Until the fire convinced me that
Melting was my only choice.

From the anvil of avarice,
The hammer of humility has sharpened
The ore of my youth
To the blade of my hope.

From the red-hot shards of my fury
Has come the bellows,
Exhaling and carrying me ever forward.
From the cooling waters of patience
Has come the steam of righteousness.

Herein begins my new chapter.

As I burned my temples to blackened lumps,
It waited.
As I corroded my aqueducts with poison,
It waited.
As I wallowed in the undertow that drowned me,
It waited.

Until I no longer expected it,
No longer tracked its furtive movements.
In that moment, it pounced.
In that instant, it conquered.
In that flash, it revealed,
It Created.

Herein begins my new chapter.
Herein ends, I pray, my wretched sight.
Herein begins my beating heart.