I Will Not Die

Have you discovered Dawna Markova?   According to Amazon.com  “Dawna Markova Ph.D. is internationally known for her ground-breaking work in helping people learn with passion and live purposefully. She is former research affiliate of the Organizational Learning Center at MIT, and her previous books include The Open Mind, No Enemies Within, An Unused Intelligence, How Your Child is Smart, and Learning Unlimited.”

I first came across her when I read her poem “I will not die” shortly after my husband died and when death and dying were at the forefront of my mind.  I have since purchased the book and have read some others of hers.

The poem was written in the 1980s when Markova was facing a life-threatening illness, and appears in the book of the same name.  Click here to read an excerpt.

I really love this poem.  It says so much to me and about me.  I hope you enjoy it too.

I will not die an unlived life.
I will not live in fear
of falling or catching fire.
I choose to inhabit my days,
to allow my living to open me,
to make me less afraid,
more accessible;
to loosen my heart
until it becomes a wing,
a torch, a promise.
I choose to risk my significance,
to live so that which came to me as seed
goes to the next as blossom,
and that which came to me as blossom,
goes on as fruit.

Photo - Ed Dear

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