I Rise

You caged me—

blackened bars

of crazed possession

built to contain

what could never be held.

My body

received the cage,

forged a cauldron.

The spark you coveted

raged into an inferno

beyond your reach,

whipping your mind

to madness.

You grasped at flame—

became ash.

Caging me

hollowed you.

Shackled

in your own impotence

crucible

became

crypt.

I stood at the heart

of the furnace,

my skin radiant.

I rise

from the forge

of my own flesh.

Not afraid.

Not bound.

Sovereign.

from Inward