Flame

If life was a candle
and the intensity with which you live
is a flame
would you reduce it for longevity

do you have the courage
to burn bright
amongst the innocuous lives
that most live

or would you rather fade
like a dying star
quietly
not accepting yet helpless

our birth is not a choice
death rarely is
it is this life
this life only

where one can
soar like an eagle
or live in shell
like a snail

choose well
for in your dying gasp
you will answer
not to your maker

but to thy self