Jaws of Rapture

I have lived a thousand times,

And died a thousand more

With both pride and humility in turn.

I have taken the mantle

And scarred my flesh,

And bore the weight of my astral lineage.

I have passed across the expanse

Of love's savage waste

And I too have been martyred

At the devil's door.

I have known ecstatic glory

And suffered trembling defeat.

I have lavished in the grotto

And perished on the slopes.

Yet I remain embattled

For I am no longer afraid.

In the jaws of rapture.

By the light of dawn.

"So lives their life,

So lives their death

So live they still

And yet they are dead."