Steps Through Fire
2025 Poetry Marathon Mile 21
Sponsored by: Mark Toney
Contest Judged: 10/15/2025 7:16:00 PM
( 4th Place )
Written: October 9, 2025
Kindness has no name, no face,
no place to rest…
It moves steadily through raging winds.
A hand reaches out when the wind bites
a smile eases the heaviest burdens.
I move beneath skies streaked with smoke,
through war, through chaos,
through unending trials.
Yet a single ember clings to its glow
a light refusing to be swallowed by shadow.
Winds bite at me,
words strike my heart—
each one a threat to my flame.
They come too close
and I pause for a heartbeat,
still, caught in one fragile moment.
Step by step, I move on,
breath by breath,
courage held tight in my chest.
Each insult becomes a stone to climb,
each hardship shapes my bones.
The ground presses firm beneath my feet,
yet I keep moving, quietly, steadily.
I hold the flicker of small delights,
shimmering softly across the frostbound ground,
a sanctuary where harshness cannot enter.
Where frost might settle, warmth remains.
Strength winds through the cracks of stone.
When the storm softens at last,
I lift my eyes toward the far horizon…
light spilling over shadowed walls,
the road before me waiting to be walked.
Each step firm, each measured breath,
every heartbeat that will not break
carries me into dawn.
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