Inner Warrior Poem by julie kops

How many battles have you braved dearest warrior
How many times have you fought for other's peace
Only to find your greatest fight of the heart
Would be to live with this body now diseased

Did you think gentle warrior that all your wars
Would be fought on an earthly plain
Could you ever have imagined the wounds
As your very essence is to live now in pain

You've been an advocate for all that is just
And fought always on the side of victim's rights
But how could you ever prepare for the inner struggle
That haunts you in your shadowed nights

Was it easier to be brave for everyone else
To hold fast to the standard of all that is true
Did you ever believe in your darkest dreams
That you would have to fight just to stay you

When the terror of facing the final breathe
Holds you ever so firmly in it's hypnotic trance
Can you stand strong in the face of courage
Knowing this will be your last star dance

Did you imagine when the illness took you
That the hardest battle you had yet to fight
Was to hold onto the peace you once found
When your wounded soul weeps in the night

Do you ever curse the path you must walk
Or wonder why it must always be the warrior's role
Scream to the heaven's in silent confusion
Cursed to be shattered to the depths of your soul

Can you hold all the broken pieces together there
When you know in the end you are doomed to fail
That you fight a war you cannot hope to win
Knowing this outer shell grows ever more frail

For this is the greatest test dear warrior soul
To fight against the darkness that tries to pull you down
That after every battle raged for the side of peace
Your last stand would be fought on inner ground

Hold tight gentle soldier to all you have gained
The beauty that life has shown you in this world
And know when you dance from this place in the end
You will find peace at last as your destiny is unfurled-