As winter drew to its close, so too did my comfort
Numb in the sorrows and distinctive hardships
Obsessed by the need to prove my insubstantialness

The lightness of being was too heavy a burden
More, I demanded, carried; growing weary, growing weak
Until the proverbial final straw tested my limits
Till broken, I blessedly crumbled

Spring came, and went, and came again
As renewal upon renewal filled a single season
Trials, tests, strengthening, stumbling, sharpening
Pushed downward to new depths of groaning despair

Devising a new hell, I crawled through the ever-present flames
Burning away each morsel of untruth
Leaving nothing, a shell
Emptied

I look now in the mirror with a mix of wonder and puzzlement
There is no recognition and perfect recognition
In the eyes of the ancient rising infant
No more sorrow, no pain, no agita
As only truth dwells within

I smile now at life
And life, smiles back