To Live is Strife — a poem of rage against the dying of the light

A La’Libertas inspired by Shakespeare’s Sonnet 73

Photo by Olga Bast on Unsplash

The sun is fading in the west;
Soft breeze gives way to bitter wind;
O bless me now, for I have sinned:
I loved too much; I failed the test.

The fire falls to ash;
The song is hushed.
The rills within my heart
Are icing over.
A facade of frozen virtue:
Icy cold.

But I no longer can pretend,
Can’t hide the blaze within my chest,
And I will rise from my charred nest:
‘Pon wings of fire I’ll ascend.

My song so sweet
Is now a shriek
Of flame and rage
Against the dying light.
I spread my wings
And, in the east, I rise.

“Ceux qui vivent
sont ceux qui luttent” — Victor Hugo