The End? (POEM)

Fiona Connor, Contributor.

This empty carcass that I call home

Will gain more life when I have

Shuffled on from this mortal realm,

Than it ever did with a beating heart

beneath its skeletal cage.

Those ivory bones that knit me together

Will crumble in the soil with naught but

The worms and maggots to call companions.

 

And even then that life will fail to sustain

The new ecosystem it has created;

Leaving that worthless bony frame to

Dissolve into dust, melting

Into the filthy cosmos.

 

I will find my meaning in the Earth not on it.

But alas! ‘Twill be too late.

Hera will have ta’en me to her bosom, like a

Grieving mother to her lifeless babe.

 

Perhaps one day my new matron will

Plant me, like a seed, into the land

I once knew. I could return as an

Oak tree, mushroom or weed.

And live amongst the soft, emerald

Pastures. Replacing tall, mighty

Skyscrapers with majestic points of green.

 

For every house or building that lines the city

Streets, there are bushes, hollows and nooks

Where the gentle folk meet. And there I’ll be

 to welcome, love and greet.

For in this new life we are all

Connected by the roots of mother’s

Warm embrace. And forever more it

Shall be a safe, secure space.

 

So to this life I shall go, but to you I wish to say.

If on this Earth you face a challenge,

Remove it from your way.

Be not afraid of life, live it while you can.

Enjoy each precious moment, fulfil each

Dream or plan.

So when Death comes to greet you,

you will not hide or cower.

And when you find me we can dance

In April’s golden shower.

 

Some say death gives us a

second chance at life. So

Live the first without hate, shame

Or even strife.

For you will get the chance to live again;

When you cease u upon the midnight with no pain*.

*John Keats, ‘Ode to a nightingale’.