Sacred Reflection

I have cried out to the heavens,
“Why me?”
Why this path of thorns and fire?
Why these battles with no end in sight?
Why this ache carved into my bones?

And the answer rises like thunder:
Because you were made for this.

Not as punishment,
but as initiation.
Not because you are cursed,
but because you are capable.

I did not come here to coast.
I came to climb.
I came to feel the burn in my muscles
and the wind at the peak.
I came to become.

I do not fear the dark anymore.
I have made altars in the shadows.
I have found Sovereignty in the rubble.
I have found myself in the ash.

When the storm breaks,
I do not run.
I rise.

With sword in hand,
with truth in my mouth,
with heart still beating despite the scars—
I face what comes.

I am not delicate.
I am devoted.
I am not here to be spared.
I am here to be shaped.
To be refined.
To walk through fire and not lose my light.

So if the mountain is steep,
let it be steep.
If the battle is long,
let it be long.

Because I am longer.
I am deeper.
I am stronger than even I remember.

And when the dust settles,
they will say:
She did not flinch.
She did not fall.
She became.