FOUR VARIATIONS ON THE THEME OF DEATH

1

After a life has ended,

it matters not to

the deceased

how much (s)he

'accomplished'

during the days

when air filled

the lungs and

the heart beat

blood to the brain

to fill it with dreams.

2

The world

endures

as an empty stage

after the actors

have been

carried off

and buried

in the bosom

of the suffocating earth.

3

Nameless bones

in a mass grave

care about posthumous fame

as much as those

entombed in a mausoleum. 

If a name is spoken,

if a name is forgotten

and uttered no more,

it matters not:

Death is

Damnatio Memoriae

for the mind,

that which we

call as soul

slipping like a silver fish

into the waters

of the river Lethe.

4

The dead

have become

light shining

on latter days

and latter lives.

Bright light

of a summer day,

cold light

of a moonless

winter night,

like scalpels

you carve

our minds

open with

keen pain.

30.08.2019