Jaws of Rapture

I have lived a thousand times,
And died a thousand more
With both pride and humility in turn.
I have taken the mantle
And scarred my flesh,
And bore the weight of my astral lineage.
I have passed across the expanse
Of love's savage waste
And I too have been martyred
At the devil's door.

I have known ecstatic glory
And suffered trembling defeat.
I have lavished in the grotto
And perished on the slopes.

Yet I remain embattled
For I am no longer afraid.
In the jaws of rapture.
By the light of dawn.

"So lives their life,
So lives their death
So live they still
And yet they are dead."