What Happens After Death?

On By Veera

Hey all! I’m back with my next poem. Enjoy!

The house was deserted,
Housing no-one but me,
I lay on my bed forging
Fantastical poetry.

My body forced me back
When I tried to rise,
As if,it would result
In an excruciating demise.

Then again,I thought,
Eventually,all shall meet death.
What point be there,in fearing
Our last,wheezing breath?

Some say the dead journey
Towards heaven,or hell.
The wicked shall suffer,
While the good revel.

Some say our souls
Shall vanish into darkness,
The life snatched by death
Shall become nothingness.

Some say that Death is
An unavoidable path,
Once caught in its noose,
You shall have to depart.

I lay in bed thinking
About that golden paradise,
How Buddha preached that death
Isn’t mourned by the wise.

How countless people wonder
What lies at the other end,
Mythical mysteries untold,
Or malicious,diabolical fiends.

I envisaged warriors guarding
The gateways to Heaven,
Greeted with pleasant smiles
Souls formerly good men.

Perhaps,one day,I’d know,
I comforted my curiosity,
One day,it’ll be my turn,
As from life,I’ll be relieved.

And so I lay in bed thinking,
As dawned daybreak.
By sunset at dusk,
I was no more awake.

The Forgers of Fantasy

P.S: This has been penned for DVerse, where poets were asked to take on a Jim Harrison challenge,and use any of the 8 lines given in the prompt,adapted from some of his works, as an epigraph for a poem. You can access the prompt at https://dversepoets.com/2022/01/25/poetics-songs-of-unreason/ . The line I chose was:
““I don’t know what happens after death but I’ll have to chance it.”- Desert Snow, Jim Harrison“.

For more such poems,refer The Forgers of Fantasy

24 thoughts on “What Happens After Death?”

  6. Oooh Veera, you were braver than I am, in tackling that prompt! And I loooove your graphic of the Grim Reaper. Actually it makes me laugh, because my ex-partner has a scythe, indeed many scythes, for cutting wildflower meadows with… a gentle and sharp-edged occupation, but I’ll be content, like you, in harvesting words. And I hope your body lets you dance, a little or a lot, in this life,

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

      1. I love the twist at the end, Veera – gave me the shivers!

        ‘Buddha preached that death
        Isn’t mourned by the wise.’

        I think I am reaching a point where I understand this teaching.

        Liked by 1 person

      2. ❤ That teaching was part of an English lesson titled "The Sermon at Benares",and as the teacher had completed it recently, it was still fresh on my mind when I wrote it!
        Thanks a lot! ❤

        Like

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