THE FIRE YOU FEED

"THE FIRE YOU FEED" There is a fire that lives in the chest of a man That burns when he moves and goes cold when he stays It asks for no reason, no proof, and no plan It only needs feeding — it only needs days I have let it burn low in the grey of the safe I have chosen the warmth of the wall over wind I have called it my rest and I've called it my faith And I've watched the flame flicker and quietly dimmed The fear has a voice and it speaks like a friend It says wait for the moment, the season, the sign It says you are tired and the road has no end And I listened and nodded and called it all fine But a fire that's left without air becomes ash And a man who stays still becomes stone in his place And the version of me that I left in the past Is the one who deserved to be given the space So I rise not because it is easy to rise Not because I have conquered the weight and the doubt But because I have seen what becomes of the wise Who sit still long enough for their fire to go out So I learn and I fall and I rise up again I get up from the dust when the weight pulls me low I am not the beginning and not yet the end But I'm building the man that I'm learning to know The road does not ask if you're ready or right It only asks if you're moving or not And I've wasted enough of the dark and the light Standing still at the edge of the life that I've got