dangerously.

It is dangerous to try to be alive
when all around is obligation.
Life takes time,
though time needs life--
or else once-scarce, desired freedom
becomes voluminous and hated.

Hate is a shortcut past trouble,
a beaten dirt path that sidesteps pain.
To love is to offer your life,
hold yourself up,
saying: what is here is worth something,
prickly though it be.