The Future Has Arrived
By John Herlihy

The future has arrived,
A future I have no longer survived,
An experience I will be deprived,
A future no longer perceived as contrived,
By a person such as me unable to be revived.

We see the world through our own eyes;
We do not understand life thru another’s guise.
Imagining life without me is a thought I despise;
Life will no doubt go on under benevolent skies;
I will live in another dimension hoping to be wise.

Still it is worth taking a look at, wonder and see,
To imagine a world without the filter of me.
The tree will continue to spread forth like a tree;
The bee will continue to gather honey like a bee;
Life will carry on as before without the likes of me.

People will continue to betray one another;
Civil wars will continue where brother kills brother;
Even little children will lay down and sometimes smother;
The garden of Paradise will await the feet of the mother;
Some stalwart hearts will keep searching for the Other.

As for myself, I will already be long gone;
I will have by now lived my life and sung my song.
With no good reason a long life in exile to prolong;
Death has already taken me with a resounding gong.
I have now found a new world where I finally belong.

PS as in postscript: one final word of confidence if I may,
Between you and me a few simple thoughts to convey.
Remain true to yourself, with no lies others to betray.
Follow a sincere heart through the course of the day.
On the Day of Reckoning, with your deeds you will pay.