The Becoming of Strength [a poem]

There descends a great hush after the breaking—
when the earth lies colder than the heavens above,
and each breath is weighted with the sorrow of endings.
Behind you rest the shattered relics of what once was,
before you stretches a path draped in shadow,
and all seems surrendered to silence.

Yet even here, within the stillness of desolation,
strength begins its hidden labor.