Knowing How To Die
By John Herlihy

Does anyone know how to die?
Can anyone tell me what for or why?
At the end of a yawning chasm,
It’s not the time to begin to fathom
The true nature of a black hole,
Will it swallow us, or make us whole?
Nature will advise what to do,
Death but a seasoning in life’s brew.
As death’s door closes,
Our life no longer supposes.
It’s done closing out the rain,
Perhaps a brief moment of pain,
As for the niceties of death,
One need not take special care.
It will be over and done with
Without a second more to spare.
Once you were here;
Now you are gone.
When life’s melody ends,
So ends the song.
Still, it begs the question
What have I done?
When the moment passes,
There will be no place to run.
The scale its balance amasses:
There will be nothing left
Nothing further to say,
Except goodbye, everyone