The sound of battle sings around me, a voice armored
Deaths favorite track drenched with hope and tearstained destinies cut short, silently plays
My name screaming across his cold lips
Do I give my soul already condemned willingly
My demons caged, rattles my spirit from an eternal slumber
Waking a memory of a blessed love waiting in cloaked fear
I stand as if the mountains themselves  has given me their roots
Her echoed love carries me forward, as fear chooses to fear
I move with the might of my comrades fallen
Courage lends me its strength
Lashing out as the hatred of the innocent lives lost fuels me
I strike with the force of demons possessed
The blood of my victory seeps from my wounded sword
Cries of a battle won rains tears of elation
Breathing underrated as death screams….
Knowing.... I chose to live.

i inhale until the ashes turn white
like the pure once driven snow
now muddled gray
my lungs scorched black
cannot bloom
no flowered prose
can escape my lips
dry and cracked earth
i want to rest
and let these embers die
crackle and go out
but they hold on to my labored breath
trying to ignite again.

Today I woke up,
and I realized,
that I hadn’t been sleeping,
and was grief paralyzed.

All that had happened,
all the ****** up nightmares,
all the loathing and anguish,
were all laid out and bare.

It took me a second,
to finally find my breath,
and when I did, I screamed,
and simply wished for death.

Take it away,
the agony that I feel,
I cannot bear this,
there’s no way to heal.

There was no answer,
as I lay on the ground.
No yes or no,
absolutely no sound.

I finally thought,
enough is enough.
I’ll fix it myself,
all the things I ****** up.

But before I do,
I’ll fix myself,
because you can’t fix what’s broken,
with something broken itself.

Today I start with me,
and I took a footstep.
One followed another,
even though I still wept.

I never looked back,
so I didn’t see,
what I left behind,
on the ground, was me.

One step at a time
One punch at a time
One round at a time
One fight at a time

And when life throws
all it has at you,
all at one time, then
every step
every punch
every round
every fight
that leaves you standing
is a win

and every time
you hit the ground
only to rise again
that is a victory
that is worthy
of the champion that you are.