As she rose from the ashes,
the fledgling phoenix
noted the burn marks
scorched on her unformed feathers.
Her first impulse
was to take flight,
but her immaturity
kept her grounded.
After many tries without success,
the phoenix stopped struggling –
resigned that her fate of flight
was just a fable.
So, the phoenix spent her days
gathering food,
tending to her nest,
watching the clouds in the sky.
Untold days passed –
countless months
or possibly even years –
before the phoenix tried flying again.
And then one day,
a day that appeared to be
like any other ordinary day,
the phoenix was sitting
in just the right spot
on the crest of a cliff
when a huge gust of wind
happened by.
Her now-developed feathers
rustled and stirred –
lifting her off the ground.
Uncertain at first,
the phoenix stammered
and struggled, eventually
giving in to the beauty
flight provided her.
She stumbled and then soared –
swooping high and low –
feeling her muscles grow
and her spirit ignite.
The gift of flight
enabled her to see the world
in a different way –
one that she could have never imagined.
The phoenix saw how her neighbors
treated their land – her land,
which she had come to love
when she had been grounded.
She realized that humans
had forgotten about Mother Nature
and the value of clean water
and the brilliance of blue skies.
As the phoenix soared above them,
day after day,
week after week,
month after month,
year after year,
the people were reminded
of happier, greener, cleaner times –
when firebirds flew in the air
which was clean and clear,
when the water was cool and blue,
and when their hearts rang true.
The spirit of the phoenix
passed along to her neighbors
as they rose from the ashes they had created –
as they nourished their land, hearts, and community.
Over time, those same neighbors
rewrote their own myth –
that of destiny over destruction,
of creation instead of devastation.
The phoenix still gathers food,
tends to her nest,
and watches the clouds in the sky –
but now she soars the skies,
admiring how the land
and people are thriving.
She now seeks opportunities
to help others on their journeys.
The phoenix was born again
by taking more time
for her wounds to heal
and for her life to rise from the ashes.
