Choose to Live – A Poem

I was done.

I sat there,

a stranger inside

my own body.

I had a choice

but I didn’t

know how to

make it. I

didn’t know. I

was lost within

myself and what

I had become.

It was as

if my body

had become a

labyrinth and I

had no way

of knowing how

to find the

exit. The forest

was there, the

trees lush and

green inside my

apartment. They were

beautiful but I

knew the trees

deadly. Their leaves

were tinged in

blood. I ignored

them and the

whisper of their

call, turned away

from the lure

of the darkness

that I could

lose myself in.

Everything was finished

and I had nothing.

“That’s not true, though, is it?”

A small voice

spoke from the

trees. I looked

up into the

leaves and saw

a bright eyed

owl. It regarded

me with eyes

that shone like

gold. I shook

my head to

clear my vision.

The trees and

the owl remained.

“How can you hear my thoughts?”

The owl ruffled

it’s feathers and

regarded me with

a wise stare.

“How can I not when you think so loudly? How long has it been since you’ve been out of this apartment?”

I shook my head.

“I don’t know. I go out for work.”

“But when was the last time you went out to simply live?”

I didn’t want

to answer its

questions so I

asked it one

of my own.

“How can you come from the dark forest? There isn’t anything beautiful in there.”

The owl laughed,

making a soft

hooting noise that

was like music.

“Oh, you know the forest so well do you? You know only the shadows of the trees, not the beauty that lies within. For even in darkness, there must be balance.”

I shook my

head, so sure

that I knew

more than the owl.

“The forest is only darkness. That’s all it has ever been.”

“Yes, but darkness comes from the absence of light.”

“What does that mean?”

“If it’s darkness that has you down, make light to chase away the shadows.”

“I’ve forgotten how. I’m too far inside the labyrinth and can’t find my way out.”

The owl ruffled

her feathers and

blinked her eyes

at me in

with impatience. She

flew down off

of the branch

and perched on

my leg. She

moved forward and

pecked at my

chest with her beak.

“It’s dark inside your mind, but not in here, where your heart is. You want light? Look there. Follow the light of your heart out of the labyrinth.”

“It’s not that easy.”

“Of course it’s not. Some choices in life are hard. However, it’s the ones that are hardest to make that give us the biggest reward.”

“So what choice do I make? I don’t know what to do!”

“Sure you do. You can either give up and accept things as they are, or you can choose to live and embrace life. The choice is yours.”

I thought about

what she had

said and what

I really wanted.

I knew that

this was no

life. I was

living as if

I had already

died. I closed

my eyes and

tried to see

the light at

the end of

the labyrinth, leading

me to freedom.

As soon as

I made the

choice to look

for the light,

I saw it.

I don’t know

why I hadn’t

seen it before,

perhaps because I

didn’t want to

see it. I raced

towards it, the

twists and turns

of the labyrinth

falling away as

I figured my

way through its

twists and turns.

When I got

to the exit,

the light was

waiting for me,

bright and beautiful

and full of

warmth. I stepped

into it and

raised my face

to it, letting

it cleanse away

the darkness.

“I choose to live.”

I whispered softly.

“I choose to live!”

I yelled this,

made it a declaration

of purpose, intent

and meaning. I

breathed in

the sunlight. It

filled me with

warmth that stretched

to every corner

and curve of

my body. When

I opened my

eyes, it was

to find that

the forest and

the owl were

both gone. All

that remained was

one feather. Written

on its plumage

was one word.

Live.