Phoenix Poem by Mary Champion

Rising,
like the fabled phoenix,
from the ashes of my dreams.

I had burned -
burned fiercely
with forbidden love.
Consumed by the flames,
my brittle heart crumbled
to arid, acrid dust.
Dead embers
of what never could have been
suffocated me.
Dispirited,
demotivated,
the outer world lay empty
to my sight.
A lifeless desert drained my eyes.
Looking inwards
I found life -
a life in torment,
a life devoid of hope and purpose-
but still life.

And then I heard it -
the quiet voice of Truth
come to claim its own -
the relentless, tormenting of Truth
that sharpened my inner vision
and, with diminishing pain,
over decades,
granted me understanding.

Rising,
like the fabled phoenix,
from the ashes of my dreams,
the light of Truth
has lifted me.