I stumbled hard against the stony ground
Where silence echoed without any sound;
The grand designs I built began to break
And left a hollow in the morning's wake.
I watched my hopes dissolve in sudden dust
A heavy blow that shook my youthful trust;
The shadows whispered that the fight was done
That night had conquered every rising sun.
Yet in the quiet of that broken place
I looked the bitter downfall in the face;
For when the fragile pride had stripped away
A deeper vigor rose to meet the day.
The fear of falling lost its cruel deceit
Once I had tasted sorrow and defeat;
No darker terror could the crossroads hold
Than what had already grown still and cold.
I gathered fragments from the shattered floor
And found a strength I had not known before;
The bleeding wound transformed into a shield
Prepared to conquer on an open field.
It taught my heart to brave the storm winds high
Without a tremor beneath an angry sky;
To look at ruin not as bitter shame
But as the spark that wakes a dormant flame.
So let the tempest gather, let it roar
I shall not cower behind an iron door;
Each fallen step has taught my soul to stand
With steady purpose and an open hand.
The steepest mountains tremble as I rise
With fierce conviction burning in my eyes;
For failure did not bend me to the dust
It forged my spirit into iron trust.