Abnegation

Do people wither, parched and broken,
Who abnegate their passions?
Do people find their nourishment
Through acts that sate their own desires?

Or do they blossom when they choose
To abnegate their passions,
Their acts of giving an oasis
Which will create a better world?

The withered stalks of dying dreams
Are compost, nurturing the soul,
The temporary death required
To build a future full of life—

And so I choose to give my passions,
A sacrifice upon the altar,
And let the ash bear fruit of love,
The greatest prize that life can offer!