"Rest and Rising"

"Rest and Rising", mixed media oils on canvas, 24" x 30"

"The darkness once held me -

a cave for my broken bones,

a bush for my trembling heart.

The lion rose within me, 

mane glowing with warmth.

I am strength woven from scars.

Once I whispered,

afraid of echoes;

now the lion lives in my lungs.

They breathe together -

shadow and light,

rest and rising.

I walk forward whole,

my wildness crowned."