until I'm empty: short poems

living

not living

i must be dying
because i am not living
(i do not know yet
those are not opposites)

not living it right

life is just a series of
feeling stress over things
that'll be forgotten in a week
and i'm not sure
i'm living it right

the definition of living, part 1

and what is living, anyway?
i'm breathing but i'm not living
i'm moving but i'm not living
i'm doing something
but i'm not living
after weeks and months
and years of not living
life, sometimes, just happens to me

the definition of living, part 2

living isn't a state
to me
it's an emotion
and it's fast
i never quite manage to
hold onto it

because i am alive

i have learned that
'contentment' is the opposite of 'living'
so i'll take the sadness
and the anger
and the frustration
and the hopelessness
and the desperation
that comes with the wanting
because i am alive