She learned to Rise...

A hardened man, a sickened beast,
His anger and rage threatened to never cease.
In the prison of Hell, looking up at the sky,
His only soft feelings of hope began to die.
His soul rotted for years.
The inhumanity dried up any remaining tears.

A baby's cries erupted one night.
The sound was foreign and inspiring, as was the sight.
The broken man, his heart so charred,
Watched the baby grow up, his expression hard.
Hatred manifested for the mother, who brought the girl into this hell.
Didn't she know how many prisoners had tried to escape and fell?

How cruel was that mother, to bring that girl straight into death.
She'd never feel warmth and happiness on her breath.
Especially not after her mother was taken and killed.
In the commotion of the screaming struggle, the broken man's arms were filled.
He held the girl close and dashed away,
"I will protect you." She heard him say.

The guards weren't concerned with the abandoned five year old.
They had done what they'd been told.
Recognizing the pain in her eyes,
He holds her close as she cries.
"It's going to be alright. No one will hurt you."
She was comforted by the realization that his deep words were true.

A lion and a lamb,
A man and a girl,
A monster and an angel.
She was his and he was hers.
Since that day, she never had to pray.
Completely devoted, his stone cold heart melted.
Completely protected, her pain shifted.
Why was she here? She yearned for knowledge.
What was out there? She wanted to reach that upward ledge.

More years passed, she was older.
She grew increasingly bolder.
Circumstances were distorted,
Physical strength in the ranks wasn't sorted.
The fights were getting out of hand.
This was not what she planned.
But she gained her chance,
And looked back with one last glance.

Words could not express the love in their souls.
The hope, the pride, the gratitude, and the fear that controls.
After leaping to freedom,
She traveled, and learned she owned a kingdom.
Ra's Al Ghul, a war lord of legend,
Was her father, and also her mentor, and friend.

She became what she was destined to be,
Thalia Al Ghul, prepared to lead.
But she never forgot the kindness received,
From a broken mutilated man within that prison who grieved.

She learned how to be strong from him.
He learned how to love.
Bane helped her rise.
From the deepest pit on Earth.