THE COURAGE TO LIVE

Life is a drug. And he’s addicted.
In fact there is only one real difference between life and cocaine.
Instead of pure pleasure, it inflicts intense pain.
And he finally finds himself at a dead end.
Staring below at the violent sea’s strength.
Marveling at the dark foamy chaos.
He tried to make sense of life, tried to find a cause.
Finally, he took a deep breath closed his eyes prayed.
And then threw himself into an endless gray.
At first he swam with a frantic vigor trying to survive.
Thinking that he was in control of his life.
He considered himself the master of his own destiny.
A free man in a free territory.
But in truth he was bound by social, cultural and political ploys.
Tossed by the current like a toy.
Then too soon, he realized, there was no shore, it was all a lie.
He stood aside and watched his soul die.
And of course, as the story goes, by then it was too late.
The drug was wearing off, leaving him weak and desolate.
Death descended like a dark cover.
He gave in peacefully. Game over.
And so a living breathing man was reduced to a buried memory.
His name a recorded number in history.
Legend says he had a strange mind.
He wrote a will with just two lines.
Give my body to life as a gift.
And ask it whether it has the courage to live…