Ode to Life, or “It is What It Is”

Do not cry for me when I am gone

Instead drink wine and fill the room with song

For I’ve lived the life I was given

Even though I have done some things wrong

And as I pass this life to another

in ways that have been done by many others

Do  not think upon where I go

There is much left here for you to discover

 

I’m told there awaits a place of golden streets

or perhaps one where there’s excessive heat.

But I’m convinced there is only that

where our remains are for worms to eat

What ever lies ahead for me shouldn’t be of your concern.

I’m sure that whatever it will be is but one more turn

in a process that seems uncertain to most

As they contemplate life beyond the urn.

 

We have but one life we know for sure

If there be more it is but a blur

So take what you have and make the best

of all things good and hard, do not demure.

 

For I believe that life is measured

by much more than our acquired treasure.

By doing all that we can to help each other

And in so doing, find rewarding pleasure.

Remember me then for what I accomplished

My failures were only things unfinished.

Do not regret as your day comes near

that you wasted life on tears relinquished

for one whose gone, leaving you this lesson;

Enjoy what you have without remission