The Transformations

Life in three stages: burden, blaze, beginning. The child Is close.

		First, the camel: yes, I’ll take the burden,
		a back made altar for the world’s commands;
		I learn the weight of duty without wonder,
		and walk into the desert doing what I’m asked.

		And then, the lion: no, I won’t be harnessed,
		I bare my teeth at every borrowed rule;
		I meet THOU SHALT, that dragon of habit,
		and tear its ancient scales to make me new.

		And after ROAR, a softer revolution:
		a child steps through, unscripted by its fears,
		its inner life the only constitution,
		a wheel that rolls from center, not from cheers.