a page of poetry

on death

it is far easier to die over and over again

than it is to die only once.

the man who dies over and over again

forgets his honor –

loses his dignity –

rejects his values –

slowly chipping away at his moral character.

a death of the soul,

if not of the body.

if the survivor loses herself in a thousand tiny concessions, justifications, excuses,

can she truly be named a ‘survivor’

if the best parts of her did not survive?

to die only once is the feat of the noble,

stubborn

principled

unyielding

and yet, one must remember the wise words of the traitor:

‘it is far better to live humbly for a cause

than to die nobly for one.’