Poetry From The Heart

What Is Your Life?

What Is Your Life

“What is your life?” I ask.

What kind of silly question is this?

This question is not silly but rather serious,

For your life is just a mist.

Life’s here today and gone tomorrow,

And yet we think we have so much time.

So if you have all the time in the world,

Then take some out to hear this rhyme.

Notice I didn’t ask what your life will be;

I didn’t ask what you plan to do,

I didn’t ask the places that you are going to see,

Or who you hope to be married to.

I seek to know what IS your life?

This word takes the present tense.

What label would you put on your life this instant,

If you found it would no longer commence?

So many people on Earth right this second,

Doing so many different things.

How different the replies to this question would be,

From such a variety of human beings. 

“What is your life?” I ask the rich man,

“Is it making money for yourself?

Is it that brand new car you worked so hard for?

Is your life simply your wealth?”

“What is your life?” I ask the Average Jo.

What is the meaning of all you’ve done?

If your life were to stop today,

Would those things live on to benefit anyone?

And even if they did,

What will your hard work do for YOU when you’re gone?

Even if you invented the computer or cured a disease,

You still go down into the same lawn.

The lawn that has been here for ages,

That holds every person who’s died.

No matter whether you’re “good” or “bad”,

It’s the same ground where each of our bodies will reside.

I’ve begun to see through the eyes of Solomon;

That everything on Earth is meaningless,

Solomon was a king who DID have everything,

Who said it was all full of emptiness.

But though your life is just a mist,

Short and pointless on its own,

It’s not too late to put down this verse,

And pick up the words of the One on the Throne.

He is the ONLY one who gives life meaning,

The ONLY one who’s blessings death can never forfeit,

His Words are full of meaningful instruction

On how to live a life that will never quit.

With Him the things you do will matter

Not just while your body is alive,

But even after your body is dead,

Because with Him your soul survives.