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Writer's pictureLarry Marshall

Life and Living


There is no being alive

which life does take.

It is living which claims us all.

From the weakest soul that

takes in air and even the

mightiest will fall.


Living is the fate which

we all must pay, for each

Experience of each night and of each day.

For every smile and for every frown.

The joy of love and that which

brings us down.


There is only one way to lose

your life, yet, so many ways

that one can stop living.

But, being hurt does not end

your life, nor is it a sign

to stop giving.


And living becomes such a sacred gift,

especially when we notice that

it actually will end.

And, no one wants to die all

alone, without the warm

touch of a friend.


Yet, no one wants to live

life alone, especially,

when they’re in a crowd.

And, it’s easier to give in to another

than to stand up and make

yourself proud.


There are those who are busy

dying to live, and others

who are living to die.

Then, there are those who

walk around dead, and others who

learn the value of how,

and when, to cry.


Somehow, it seems

to be so reassuring that

one day we will all share

the same fate.

That we will either die

way too soon, or

we are taken

one day

too late.


But there is a secret to life and

a secret to living.

It’s that you must be living

to feel.

It does not have to be real

to make and sense, and

it does not have to make sense

to be real.


So, to all of you

Who take life for granted, that

goes for the rich, as well as

the poor,

you can only live this life

just one time, and you can

never return to live it

once more.


08-27-1990


Finding Four Leaf Clovers Writers (Larry Marshall & Azizi Marshall)
Me with my dad as a baby (1979)

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