Lying in the embers
stroking the flame
brilliant eyes flare defiantly
challenging death
yet his posture
cowed and burdened
hints at submission.

Consumed by the inferno
wings slack
eyes rolled back
he writhes in distress
dying.

Out of the ashes he emerges
wailing a mournful song
wings hunched but then slowly unfurling like sails
shooting outward.
He catches the wind, gliding
tail trailing fire
feathers gleaming like a dull coin
in the morning light.
Gold. Red. Orange.

And his nimbus,
seven regal rays,
crests his head like a luminous shroud.

A majestic eternal being,
he chases the dawn –
The dawn of a new beginning.