Did the Phoenix rise or fall?

Bringing this back.

Into words with Sola first started as a radio show on my University's station. 'My Conversation with the Phoenix' was one of the first poems I wrote in preparation for the show. Four years on, and the poem has a different voice now. It really explores the theme of the sacrifices made to step into the new. 

The prime subject is the Phoenix. In Greek Mythology, it is a bird that is reborn from the ashes of its predecessor. In My Conversation with the Phoenix, I ask "how did the middle point between your life and death- the separation- feel?" "Did it hurt?"...