A Fire Burning Bright

This piece continues a trend that I started a few years prior. I was always fascinated behind the mythology surrounding the phoenix. The idea of a bird burning itself out like a star, only to rise again from its' own ashes, is such a poetic concept in my mind. And it's one I've often toyed with in my writing. So in this particular piece, it was written as a sort of call-to-arms to all of the people like me in the world. The folks who were genuinely nice to other people, and got walked on and/or taken advantage of, because of that fact. The ones whose kindness was always taken for weakness. It's a piece that says, "we won't take it anymore." And that we will rise from the ashes of our own bad situations.

"A Fire Burning Bright"
2012

I found the spark inside a match
After it was struck on this
Humble square in hand
Held so tightly I could miss
This fleeting chance I have
To set this world alight
'Cause the smell of gasoline
Means I'll show them all tonight
That the ones you throw away
Will come around someday
And illuminate your night
With a fire burning bright
And while you're blinded by the shine
I think you'll come to find
That the ones you do forsake
Will leave your ashes in their wake
So you can look and count the stars
Then start including me
Because I finally found a way
To catch the things eluding me
And the growing self-respect
That I once held in check
Has now bloomed into the noose
I'll slip around your neck
'Cause the ones you throw away
Will come around someday
And illuminate your night
With a fire burning bright
And while you're blinded by the shine
I think you'll come to find
That the ones you do forsake
Will leave your ashes in their wake
So if you ever feel knocked down
Just confuse them with a laugh
As you start to shake the ground
Then crack it all in half
And as they start to run
They'll see you're far from done
Then they'll have to realize
The raging fire in your eyes
'Cause there's a phoenix in us all
Hiding just behind our skin
Waiting 'til the day we fall
To rise back up again
And start screaming at a world
That turned its' back on us
So when our flaming wings unfurl
We will turn them all to dust
'Cause the ones you throw away
Will come around someday
And illuminate your night
With a fire burning bright
And while you're blinded by the shine
I think you'll come to find
That the ones you do forsake
Will leave your ashes in their wake
So let them scream and beg
As we take them down a peg
And show them all the view
Once shared by me and you
Then they'll have to see
Just how it feels to be
Stepped and frowned upon
Until the day is gone
And as it turns to night
Know we will be alright
For the flames will keep us warm
And keep us free from harm
'Cause the ones they threw away
Have come around today
To set aflame the night
With a fire burning bright
And now they're blinded by the shine
And I think they've come to find
That the ones they did forsake
Have left the ashes of the past
Lying in their wake...