Memento Mori

Death is not the antithesis to life—

Death is the result.

We spend so much time running

From the place we are all destined to reach,

Like runners on a backwards treadmill

Who foolishly believe the machine may fail before we do.

 

When death is remembered it still stings,

But not the sting of some sad unexpected tragedy:

The sting is a reminder of the pain of an ending,

But it simply leads to another beginning.

Who knows what dreams may come in that sleep of death?

But come they must, and so fear accomplishes nothing.

 

“Remember death.”

Remember that each day is a gift,

Their breadth and depth unknown until they end.

Mourn and remember the love you have lost:

But remember it is as natural as the tides that ebb and flow,

And the breaths that come in inexorably come back out.