Death

Is there anything
That does not birth
From death

Love and beauty
Creativity, passion, compassion
All meaning
Life itself

Can any of it
Truly express, be experienced
Without death

Where is the celebration
For the source
What day of the year
Is for honouring
Death

Where in schools
Colleges and universities
Are departments
Of death

When do we not approach it
With fear, denial
Anger, aversion, concealment
Stigma, taboo
With needles, machines
Drugs

How does the architect of all meaning
Gets euphemised, commercialised
In caskets, gravestones, wreaths
Mocked
By flags, gun salutes, statues
Shrines

Demonising the well
The river —
We go searching for water
Seeking
What could only take birth
From
Through death