ThePoeticRose

****
They say that

Water

Is the root of

Life...

It pushes on bravely,

Carving paths through the

Earth,

Life

Following in its

Wake,

Sprouting at its

Feet,

Churning and

Turning

And never once

Stopping...

If this is

Life...

...it is not

Mine.

My life is

Fire,

Started by a

Spark,

Born from charcoal

And tinder

And bark.

The progeny of glinting

Flint and

Steel,

Fed by lighter

Fluid.

Life does not press on

Bravely,

It takes a while to

Catch.

And when we spark to

Life,

We are small,

Fragile,

Easily blown

Out.

We consistently

Waver

And

Flicker

And

Shake,

Sucking in

Oxygen

As if it pains

Us,

Knowing too much

Could very well kill

Us,

Breathing deeply,

Gasping for

Murderous,

Saving

Air

Coughing out

Ashes

To an indifferent sky,

Coughing out

Prays

To a deity on high,

Agonizing,

Living,

Clawing at the edges of

Our fire pit life

With red-hot

Fingers

Trying to

Get out

Get out

Get out

And frantically

And rapidly

Breathing

Breathing

Until, like

Fire,

We grow

And like

Fire,

We thrive.

We reach for the skies,

We stay alive

Not as

Water

Does, leaving life

Behind it,

The life is in

Us,

Burning,

Writhing,

Smoldering within us

As it starts to ignite.

And we

Laugh

And we

Cry,

Shouting out like in

The old tragedy,

"Oh love!

Oh life!"

And sometimes,

Like both,

Water

And

Fire,

We reach too far.

We overextend our

Burning hands

And set others aflame,

Like friendly waters

Pulling in for a deadly

Embrace.

We rob them of

Their choking

Air,

And they withdraw,

Their fire

Burns dimmer...

Fire can give.

Fire can take.

We can be the

Warming,

Helping,

Refining

Light...

...or we can

Destroy

And

Harm

And

Burn to the

Ground.

Either way we will

Continue to

Flare.

Either way we will

Continue to

Reach up for the skies.

Either way our

Flame

Will shrink, beginning to

Fade.

Either way we will

Be reduced to

Smoldering cinders,

Darkened by years of

Burning

And

Burning

And

Knowing

And

Growing

Until we go

Out,

Ascending as

Ashe

To the

Heavens.

Water is not

Life.

Water will never stop

Going,

Moving in

Cycles

And

Rivers

And

Oceans,

And it will never end.

But

Fire

Burns to a halt.

It burns in our

Hearts,

Passionately and

Furiously against

The cold of

Water,

Giving us our

Drive

And

Feeling

And

Heart,

Oh yes,

Water is living

But fire is life.