Be Alive, they say, when
I’m so Alive we Ache with it.²
We spend our whole life doing
No more than Preparing for life,
Thinking: “Is this all there is?”³
If you knew what Life was worth—
You would look for yours on Earth—⁴
Think about how Big it is
To be Alive right now.⁵
My Life has been the
Poem I would have writ, but
I could not both Live & utter it.⁶
Life is not a problem to solve—
But a Reality to Experience.⁷
Life’s a flowering—and we Blossom!⁸
The sweet-tastin’ Good Life is so easily found
Way over Yonder—that’s where we’re bound …⁹
One Life of so much consequence—
Yet we for it would pay—
Our Soul’s entire income,
In ceaseless Salary!¹⁰
¹ Jack London, Love of Life
² Alan Dugan, On Rape Unattempted
³ Terrance Hayes, Lighthead’s Guide to the Galaxy
⁴ Bob Marley, Get Up, Stand Up
⁵ Devin Shepherd, In Our Jeans
⁶ Henry David Thoreau, My Life Has Been
⁷ Soren Kierkegaard, quoted by Alan Watts, The Psychology of Acceptance
⁸ Irena Klepfisz, Bashert
⁹ Carol King, Way Over Yonder
¹⁰ Emily Dickinson, One Life of So Much Consequence