From Whence I Cometh

A New Beginning
I stood there facing her,
Only now aware of her nakedness;
Unmasked and stripped of all false pretense,
No more hidden secrets to reveal,
No more fear of being judged or ridiculed.
I could see the scars of battles won and lost,
Scars relentlessly burned into her flesh with a hot cast iron;
I whispered, I accept you;
I accept you broken and all.
No, I shouted... Woman!
As if to awake the woman in the mirror,
No more will I carry this burden;
A curse passed down through generations.
No more will I feel the guilt and shame of being a woman.
No more will I sit silently while others decide my fate.
No more, no more.
I will claw my way out from this bottomless pit,
I will dig deep into its thick and charred lining
Until my fingers are bloody and my knees scarred;
Swollen red and burning,
I will rise, I will rise...
I will look only towards the opening
Where the sun casts its light through the rocks;
There I will find a cool drink of water.
I will look to a new beginning...