Phoenix

Look me in the eyes. 

Do you see the shadows of a bird? 

Caught in a golden cage

Yet, not fighting to get free, 

Resigned to it's fate

That you'll never let it fly. 

Look at my hands. 

Do you see the lines scarring my skin? 

These lines speak of my past

And the gnawing present

You mapped out for my life, 

With an authority I simply complied to. 

Look at my feet. 

Do you see them dragging across the floor? 

It shows the paths I've trodden, 

The thorns that cut through my flesh

And the blood that colored the roses

Which now crown your head. 

Have you stopped to wonder

Why I never cry out? 

Why I never resist? 

Why I never turn my back on you? 

And then, I finally realized. 

You never cared, you never bothered. 

Now, look me in the eyes. 

Do you see the embers glowing bright? 

I'm not a shadow

And I will not be caged. 

So, watch me rise from the ashes

Of the fate you had plunged me in. 

Look at my hands. 

Do you see the map embedded in it? 

It speaks of the roads

That I would carve out

Inch by inch, second by second, 

To a future devoid of you. 

Look at my feet. 

Do you see them walking over water? 

For my faith holds me afloat. 

I will bleed no more

As I watch your crown of roses

Become your cross to bear.