You Question if You are Afraid of dying...

You question if you are afraid of dying,

The real trepidation lingering deep within

Is your desire to truly live,

Releasing all inhibition to embrace the unknown.

The announcer’s proposal for living

Is lacking real freedom and liberty,

All dressed up, not daring, conforming

To norms defined by manmade illusions

Painted on chapel walls, search engines

And fancy glazed business cards.

Like an over choreographed dance,

Week after week many shuffle

To the same expectation

 And rehearsed instruction.

One in a million, you are,

Truly afraid of breathing,

Moving to your own rhythm,

Longing to feel alive.

Honesty begins with one’s own company,

And true integrity is waiting

For you to be honest with thyself.

Settling for status quo

Has left you empty, unable to say no.

You’re not afraid of dying.

Such a notion brings you relief.

But your fear of living,

Has tied your hands and feet.

Who would have thought

That living was such a leap of faith,

Where one walks freely

Down a path of self-discovery,

Where many so strictly restricted,

Due to fear, will sadly never go.

Have those who have died

Truly lived at all?

Have those who have lived

Truly breathed their last breath

When the mourners have gone home?

No, You’re not afraid of dying.

Such a notion brings you relief,

because dying is all too familiar,

truly all you've been taught and know.

~2011 Vaughn Wood