What keeps me alive?

The flame in me has turned to ice.

Cinders have turned to dust.

The will to go on seems to have

Gone with the racing gust.

Why do I feel, again and again that,

There will be no tomorrow?

And I will have to live today   

Shackled with chains of sorrow.

Even in this necrotic plague

 I am not yet dead,

I’m still looking ahead,

What’s keeping me alive?

In this mist, I’m standing still,

I’m losing my sight.

It’s taking everything from me,

Because I’m weak to fight.

It’s time I leave behind the pigeon,

And rise like a hawk,

Gain my strength back, become myself,

Whom no one dare mock.

Even though I am poisoned,

I am not yet dead,

My blood is still red,

What’s keeping me alive?

Life is just like a sine wave,

If you really do see.

There will be troughs and crests,

The latter is where we want to be.

Maybe, knowing that I can get back up

Is what’s keeping me alive.

So, instead of just thinking

I should start my strive.

So, now that I know that I am

Not yet dead,

Let me get up from my bed,

And work hard towards staying alive.

                                                    Neel J Sattigri