The Veracity of Death

What does the newborn babe
Know of Death?
It knows only warm gaze
And loving hands, not Darkness.

What does the young child
Know of Death?
That Death is a Thief,
Stealing away ones too loved.

What does the learning soul
Know of Death?
That Death is a Gardener,
Slicing away buds before they bloom.

What do the working men
Know of Death?
That Death is a Shadow
Of lurking doubt, cast upon the future.

What does the aging adult
Know of Death?
That Death is a Needle,
Pricking them in aches and pains.

What do the ripe and aged
Know of Death?
That Death is a Knife,
Cutting away strings of the marionette.

What do the suffering
Know of Death?
That Death is a Brother,
To be welcomed with open arms.

What do the dying
Know of Death?
That Death is a Door
Open to peaceful oblivion.

Life is but a ruse
To gain a false sense of aplomb;
Until Death will come and humble us,
Or rap on the knuckles hard.

Success will give us assurance,
Experience-- perhaps poise;
But under Death's roving eye,
We lose all and we bow.

What do the dead
Know of Death?
That Death is not an equal,
'Tis above us all.

-Nicky Eira
5:44 PM, 15th July '10