BURN (Wattys2015?)

the way we died

everyone dies the same
it doesn't matter how you died
because everyone dies
exactly alike
beautiful

there's a peace to how we die
a final breath, slow and exhausted
living is such a tiring act
we're all so ready at the very end
even if we fight on the journey there

you could die in your sleep
a perfect picture of slumbering
tranquility
just a few breaths and then
a total, complete stillness
I suppose that's a peaceful way to go
gentle into the night

you could be murdered
stabbed in the gut
and slowly bleeding out
in some dark, dank, forgotten alleyway
the pain could be unbearable
and whether or not you are able
to turn off your mind and senses
and drift off into the abyssal arms
of Death
that last and final breath
is peaceful
because the wound doesn't hurt anymore
and even though your soul
is enraged at the injustice
that you must perish
and your killer is standing above you
savoring in truly knowing you
(you truly know someone based
on their last moments)
you don't care
yes, you would have preferred your family
to be surround you
instead of a deranged middle class
surburban businessman who finally
snapped
you don't care who it is
who lulls you to the quiet darkness
the silent domain
the oblivion
because it doesn't matter
they don't matter anymore
nothing matters
you're in a pure state
of serenity

there are so many ways to die
you could die any day
in any way
heart disease, cancer,
car accident, homicide,
suicide, asphyxiation,
or one of those weird
one in a million chances
kind of deaths--a freak accident
like spontaneous human combustion

there are no certainties
in life
except death and taxes
no one can escape death,
not the richest man
to the poorest
young or old
man or woman
no one
everyone dies
and even though death can be
your greatest fear
it's also your greatest comfort
and your greatest avenger
because all the people
who have ever wronged you
are going to die too
"at the end of the game
the king and the pawn
are put into the same box"

it doesn't matter how hard to fight
to live, or to die
or if you died a coward or a hero
quickly or slowly
painfully or pain-free
we all die
equal
and in the same way
we all have that last breath
we all have a last meal
we all have a last hello and a last goodbye
we all have a last shower
a last birthday
a last kiss
a last moment of anger
of happiness
of sadness
sometimes we know
this is our last time
other times we have no idea
and there's an irony in that
and a beauty

life can be beautiful
but nothing rivals the beauty of death
or the inevitability
except maybe
taxes