A duality of elements besieges her,
Like a fortress surrounding a sacred castle.
The essence of light and dark resides upon her.
A colorful past like the gardens leading up to the castle door,
And a darkened present like the cold stone floor descending to the dungeon.
Guilt pulses at the threshold of her conscious mind.
She realizes her fault was the innocence of loving through her heart and not seeing through her eyes.
There is a battle of pain produced by a combination of torment and affection.
It creeps its way across the drawbridge to the chamber where her heart rests
Moments of intimacy and anguish intrude on her mind,
It reaches as deep and wide as the moat encircling the palace walls.
An all-consuming blaze burns through to the core of her soul.
She is shackled to a mirage of empty vows.
There is a constant search for serenity.
The foundation of her being is bombarded,
Eroding like the continuous flow of a waterfall upon the rocks below.
She seems shattered as the foreboding pieces of her existence are strewn about.
But she does not concede.
The bindings are cut with the anticipation of freedom.
Staring at her reflection in the waters around the castle walls,
She recognizes she was built to withstand the madness of the attacks.
A glimmering light ripples through, and her inner strength rises.
A mirrored image of beauty from within;
She straightens herself out and replaces the crown upon her head.
Then she regally reaches for the fragments of what once was,
And compiles them in a breathtaking mosaic of perfection.
A medallion of triumph she proudly wears, which validates the battles she has won.