OK, I think I'm getting close with this revision...

We’ve heard much of lighted tunnels
Welcoming arms reach from the past
Into oblivion our sand funnels
Until peacefully we breathe our last

That’s not the way I plan to leave
To give my soul without a fight
I’ll cling desperate to this mortal sleeve
My last will not be a good night

Old age flickers like a candle
And glorious deeds in shadows lie
Dying tears are hard to handle
a final question whispered, “Why?”

Before I run down the curtain
I’ll give that bucket a mighty kick
Though my demise is all but certain
I won’t go quietly or quick

Like sheep led to the slaughter
Their eyes blank with empty stares
Passively becoming fodder
Stripped easily of all their wares

While some may suffer accident
That makes their heart contrite
I won’t suddenly become penitent
My last will not be a good night

Soon the boatman will be beckoning
And death will finally have success
But it will be a bitter reckoning
I’ll not go peacefully to my rest

Copyright ©2004 Anthony Hall