I walk where silence learns my name,
where maps run out and paths turn flame.
My dreams are sworn to no one’s creed,
my fears lie buried with the seed.

The fall is mine, the blood, the bruise,
the nights that teach me how to choose.
From soil cracked by doubt and ache,
I grow the roots I dare to make.

Alone I rise, alone I bend,
with shadows only I befriend.
Each sleepless hour, each salted tear
tempers the spine that holds me here.

And when the summit meets my gaze,
no borrowed light, no borrowed praise
the sun stands still, my name aflame,
for all I own was earned through flame,
not handed luck nor hollow fame.