Choosing to Live

The good times are gone,

and they went unnoticed in their time.

That breeze won’t strike your body

in quite the same way again,

your sense of wonder

will only deplete,

everything declines,

we return to the Earth,

six feet of dirt is all we earn from

our hurt.

It’s essential,

when trying to live,

to tell ourselves things:

there are so many beautiful things in this life

like a great joke or a photograph engraved within the mind,

or that it will all be worth it in the end, when we achieve what we want and the end credits roll.

It doesn’t really work like that — satisfying a desire

only births a new, equally powerful want

and while there is beauty, it is easy to find depravity too.

Really, to feel strong, the one thing to think is:

when the easiest thing to do is to die,

there is strength and rebellion in choosing to breathe.

When every atom in your body wants to give in,

some part of you resists,

and that makes you a titan.

Dark nights really do not last forever,

and while daytimes may still be blue or grey,

they’re just about bright enough

to light up our pathways,

grab at them while they’re present

and hope to survive the day.