I Will Not Shrink. Poem by Ruby Star

I will not shrink from that battlefield
where the heat of longing meets
the chill of dread,
where cold steel fingers,
sharp filaments of fear,
wrap tight my heart and
squeeze.

No, I will not.

I will instead,
fan the fire,
my Soul's desire
to free forever
the fledgling wings
that flutter wildly
beneath my ribs.

Hope is feathered
but often flightless,
anchored to earth by
the gravity of neglect,
shivering in exile.

But now I warm it
within that chamber
where fire meets ice
where light meets shadow
and diamonds are formed
in the press of pain.

In that crucible
where the alchemy of Soul
turns lead to gold
and magic and miracles
meet the illusion of suffering
in Divine dissolution-
the prodigal child
clasped tight in homecoming.

All soul fragments
all slivers of myself
once rejected
flung far and wide
into pitiless dark,
called back to me now,
full in their flowering
come laden with learning,
and bright with blessings.