Death

What is the matter with the words –
dying, died, and dead?
It is almost as if they cannot be said.
When did – died – become – passed away?
And now just – passed – is what they say.
Why must we whisper with a quiet breath
when speaking about a recent death?
Different religions have various ideas
to comfort the living and subdue their fears.

I am not putting down any religious belief.
I am aware that death causes many great grief.
To explain I will do my best
to think seriously about this quest.
Be careful of a directive driven by the emotions,
with no passage through the logical mind’s stations.

After death, there is usually a burial or cremation.
This action denies corporeal regeneration.
If the existence of a dead corpse is accepted,
how can the reality of decay or ash be rejected?
Some talk of the dead as if they are still here,
looking down from some place in the atmosphere.
The idea of a reformed body gives some mistrust
when it went to the ground as ashes or dust.
Some obituaries have words I can’t explain;
they say they will be reunited again.
Along with angels with their harps and bells,
they should explain reconstituted cells.
Where is this place that this event will occur?
Can you obtain clear directions for sure?

I am trying to picture how the whole human race
is in a place reserved somewhere in outer space.
Do people this phenomenon really believe,
or do they deliberately themselves deceive?
I can see a preferred belief in reincarnation
compared to the finality of oblivion.

When the body dies, gone is the physical,
but are we left with the psychical?
Is there something intangible that we find,
a connection to the human mind?
What of the spiritual aspect of death,
after taking that last and final breath?
The feeling we have that the dead are still there,
we can feel their presence within the air.
An experience that is also transcendent,
not limited to material content.
An emotional connection we think we still have;
within the mind the dead may still live.
Sift through evidence looking for truth,
hoping to find a particle of proof.
One thing you can say about the dead –
they leave you with memories in your head.