i have already been burned
by the worst fire that will ever
roll into my life
i am still choking
on the smoke
dizzy from the
fumes, scarred from
the chaos of it all.

you will watch me rise
from the ashes
and i will look back
at the flames that once
destroyed me,
and i will thank them
for allowing me to be
reborn-

for birth is a passage
on this journey
that most only
experience once

and because of you
i was fortunate enough
to experience it twice