Forged of Flame: A Shield Maiden Battle Song

(Kindra M. Austin)

The fire that whelms me does   

not consume; for it is mine

own—

I do control inferno,

a blood-borne lust to conquer

pain—

Here you come with buckets of water,

and a head distended with ego

convinced I’m a woman in distress

The fire that whelms me does

not consume; for it is mine

own—

my defense mechanism,

desire to live forged in

flame—

Shield Maiden calls for no goddamned man 

 

(Aurora Phoenix)

these flames that fence me

char me not

they are the hungering tongues

of my animus

I spark them

cerise

feeding them on

the oxygen of my outrage

when the world crushes

upon me

you hasten forward

all suited up

toting your much touted hose

as if your stream

could touch these flames

these flames that fence me

char me not

they are the hungering tongues

of my animus

I fan them

as Hestia and her sisters

lit by my righteous fury

under deluge of

hypocrisy incomprehensible

your rushing consternation holds no candle to my Warrior woman flames

 

(Christine E. Ray)

this blaze that engulfs me
comes not from without
but within
it is the passion
the rage
that simmers deep in my core
hot roiling lava
that has churned
in the souls of warrior women
for thousands of years
we are fire
we are stone

you fancy yourself a mage
brandishing flashes of lightening
ominous clouds 
with a studied flick of your wrist
believing that your cold, soaking rain
can extinguish what burns within me
I laugh as your efforts 
evaporate into mist
chest deflated
your hubris
sags to your knees

 

(1Wise-Woman)

Enveloped in an inferno

Yet scorched, I am not

For this is my torch

Of triumph

An act of defiance

Warrior woman alliance

Summoning strength

You, with your shining armor,

prowl around pleading pluvial persuasions,

beware, lest I steal your air, fueling the flames,

and smother you in a fiery back-draft.

Enveloped in an inferno

Yet scorched, I am not

It is my self-sparked

Simmering sustenance

Dissuading demons

Always ablaze

Lighting the way

Anemic armor melts from the heat of Warrior Women united in courageous combustion

 

(Sarah Doughty)

I felt this power rushing through my veins like a drug, searing every cell as it passed and transformed the very marrow in my bones to obsidian. My skin grew thicker, no longer the flawless flesh it once was, but marred by memories and shielded from what was to come. My eyes no longer reflected the sea, but instead burned like the sun.

No longer was I the innocent child, but the woman, risen from her own ashes. Ready to battle the very demons that haunted me, broken me, and left me to rot.

I became flame. I became fury.

I became my own savior.