The Battle Within

Inspired by the movie "Gladiator"

She stood still, taking in the battle beyond her.
The world was stark, covered in ash and fire
She knew not where the next arrow would hit
Her existence had transposed and relocated

This new world was free of her old essence
It contained only hidden battle scars
She observed the neoteric things in her grasp
Her injuries were gone her spirit renewed

The smoke and brush smoldered around her
The ground wept of soot and blood earth
The stench of humanity swelled her nostrils
Her breast red with blood, bled

She traveled the roads with strength and courage
She thought of the this cradle of humanity
The one that taught her a capacity to forgive
She tried not to retaliate at those who condemn

Black power swallowed the sun
Carbon covered the dying flesh
Embers scorched the lifeless ground
Blistering, festering, dead around her.

She sustained her heart through the strife
She absorbed all her intellect could
She craved the enigma of why
She experienced the past for her knowledge

The curtains of fate had come down
The digression of humanity, changed
The vapors of the dregs lay about
The twisted smoking remnants changed not

She assembled her frame of mind
She viewed her bitter world of past
She stepped into the chasm beyond
She moved free of the battle

The battle was there behind her
The smell was there behind her
The blood shed was there behind her
The past was there behind her

She inspected the specs of debris
She left behind what she could not carry
She took only what was useful and good
She left the bitter memories of past

She stepped into the future