Where the Fire Dwells

I am not after winning—
I seek the flame of truth.

Not the soft warmth
that strokes the skin,
but the fire
that kindles the soul.

One scorches the surface,
the other awakens the core.

Let my rival wear the crown—
if truth is in his grasp,
let it shine.
For wherever truth stands,
there too
I arrive.

Truth—
the highest summit
a heart can reach.
Without it,
we are shards of light
without a sun,
wanderers
without a sky.

For truth is home.
And to win without it—
is to be crowned
in exile.
Utterly
homeless.