What you must do

Strength is neither something you have
nor is it something you can achieve.
Rather, and this is simply what I believe,
strength is something you simply must do.
Perseverance when others buckle under you,
leaving you alone, stripped down to the bone,
but still you stand, unflinchingly unbending
standing where others failed, strength unending
but it goes so much deeper,
it's what you must have to face the reaper
when he grins his melancholy smile
yet you stand all the while.
Strength cannot be purchased with money
nor favors from mouths sweet as honey
but rather it must be earned
like scars that have been burned, seared
yet not all who seek have been reared
in the proper forge to create a strong mind
for that is the true treasure to find.
Strength of the mind can kill kings or save gods
with but a thought and a simple nod,
the man who has beaten his own demons
cannot be destroyed by ordinary men.
Strength, measured by many but loved by few
discipline, is what you must simply do.