I’ve experimented with grudges,
I’ve tried my hand at hate,
I’ve broken a promise willfully
to watch it wither and fade.

I’d given up making excuses –
claiming dust just turns to dust,
and cheerfully defiled the names of those
who’d turned my word to rust.

And still, amidst all the toil,
there is a grace that lasts:
Loyalty is a phoenix, fierce
and birthed from it’s own ash.