Forging Hope

I was chained to this darkness for so long, that I forgot how to breathe.

I lost the memory of the light; a phantom limb of dreams.

I reached for it over and over again into that hole where my heart should've been, but all that was there was the shadow of who I once was.

So from that dark outline was something forged; hard as steel, as delicate as glass, and hollow on the inside.

For every miss-fired signal, I would strike the match.

For every hole left unhealed, I would stoke the flame

no matter how small the spark.

I've lost count how many years it took to build this fire;

enclosed in see-through glass, protected by steel bars,

but one day when I reached into

the crater of my chest

something was there,

finally burning,

ready to illuminate

that which I had once thought

lost forever:

hope.