There's a steel cage match
in my mind
between who I am
and who I want to be.
I watch with eyes of a bystander,
watch as the conflicts of my mind
become intertwined in fragile fists.
In the dark corner roams the Contender,
resting quietly in the back of
the thoughts.
You can hear the breathing,
feel the presence,
feel like the victim
come to the territory
of the enemy.
And I know,
I know it is is me-
     the Contender in the dark corner,
     it's just like looking in a mirror.
     I see the fear and fight in her eyes,
     she means no harm,
     she's just trying to figure out how to be free.
Across the ring
glows who she wants to be.
The soul,
the light into which
her thoughts are punching holes-
     darkness destroying in confusion.
Fists hit her cheeks
as she spits up mouthfuls of words
she should have never said to herself.
She's just trying to survive
the battle of her mind,
trying to absorb the blows
the way the Light does,
so that every fist the contender
drives deep
is flooded back with light
as soon as the fist leaves.
She will not be
defeated.
The Light
will
not
leave
her.
She is greater than her contender.