When I pass away
As we all will one day
what ill be the effect
I have had on others
Friends, or strangers
Sisters and brothers ?
I have lived through both pleasure and pain
My days have been well-lived: in the main
But sometimes I wonder when death comes to me
What will remain there for all the world to see ?
My body may show how much it had cost
To maintain good health – so all was not lost
I wonder whether the insects will feed on my brain
Finding much of it lost, where it was eaten up by pain
My hands will lie helpless by my side
My feet will have finally lost their sturdy stride
The air may not reach me under the ground
My heart will lie still – the beats will not sound
Soon – I’ll just be a memory in people’s mind
My eyes will be sightless – for I will be blind
Yes – my body will be gone
But my memory will be there
In the hearts of my friends
And family who did care
And who knows –
But my verse may also find
A place in people’s hearts
Or imprinted in their mind
My deeds will also live
If they are worthy of being told
So let me care and share
Till I am frail and old
No one lives forever
Our walk through life is short
So it will really matter
What change in general I wrought