He has been bent,
He has been forged,
He has been hammered like a
hot iron to obey the blacksmith.

How much he can take
Before his soul rages embers?
How far he can go
With his bones chiselled to weakness?

But fortitude is his strongest suit,
No fire can turn him into weak ashes,
Nothing can shake his unabated spirit,
‘cause he is an iron who absorbs thousand blows!

©2020 Piyush Singh

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100 Selected Poems, John Keats: Collectable Hardbound edition