Death and Oblivion

 

The voices of the dead

whisper,

“It doesn’t matter anymore.”

And I’m inclined to believe them,

but only with the dead parts of me.

They point to scars

on my mind and by body

and say,

“You’ve had enough, Kid.

Why don’t you just admit

life has defeated you,

and lay down and die

like your father.”

There was a time

when I thought they were right.

That I

went to the grave for their council.

These days,

when I hear them at all,

I just smile

and keep right on going.

There are some sure things,

death and oblivion.

But I’ve done my time

with the demons of my memory.

I’m too old to say,

that I’m not going

to that other place,

but I’ve got a little time, yet.

I’m still alive,

and I bet if I

took my life

and threw it up to the sky

it would shatter like stars

on a clear summer night.

And I’d sit there

counting my memories.

I don’t heed those old voices.

There’s still a whisper in the wind,

asking me to keep searching

for something I don’t know yet.

Not sure if I’m going to find it,

or if I’ll run out of days instead.

But I’m not gonna fall

for the incessant call

of death and oblivion again.

 

 

DJR – 2023

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