Amen

Death is like a present

Which is unwrapped

Slowly but surely

Over the course of a life

Some are eager

Some rip the box to shreds

Hoping to find

Sanctity inside

But they’re held up without a gun

And stand there sadly

Flapping their gums

So they take their death

And say amen

Others however,

Too lowly, too meek

Or perhaps too wise

Consider this box,

Pandora’s gift

They tuck it in their coats

Pick at it,

On rainy afternoons

When they swallow gin

With thoughts about the pain

But they never go far enough

Until much too late

Fragile and old

They too, rip the box

But with much less eagerness

And much less pain

And when they do

The mere shock

Is enough to knock them dead

And they too,

Say amen