Smoke and fire thick and slow
Is this the scent they said would burn
The crowd stands silent grey and low
As if the world has ceased to turn
I feel the heat a serpent’s kiss
It climbs my limbs it seeks my face
But in this suffocating abyss
I see no sin I find no disgrace
Strike the flint!Let the pyre rise
Paint the sky with scarlet lies!
They tie my wrists they bind my waist
But they cannot imprison Grace
Let the tallow melt the chain
Let the flesh be purged of pain—
This is not fire this is light
This is the dawn that ends the night!
Oh—!The air is gone the heat is teeth
It bites my skin it steals my breath
I hear the crackling underneath
A crown of cinders not of death
My eyes weep blood my tongue is charred
Yet still my soul begins to sing—
I see the lilies of the Lord
Beyond the suffering beyond the sting
They wanted silence they wanted shame
They wanted me to curse His name
But in this furnace white and wild
I am the mother I am the child
Charles may weep and Bedford rage
I am the fire that won’t assuage
The Church may judge the King may flee—
But God is here and God sees me
Burn the cloth!Let the oils run!
I am the daughter of the Sun!
The pain is real the terror true
But so is He—and so are you!
Let the banners of the world turn to rust
I hold the cross amidst the dust!
This is not fire this is light
This is the dawn that ends the night!
Jesus…
It is finished
The fire is…
…only light
