So many enlightened souls

So many enlightened souls

Wait until their loved ones fall asleep,

Worn out from the vigil

Tirelessly trying to garner every last drop

Of comfort from a finger squeeze

The faintest flicker of an eyelid

The fevered warmth of a kiss

On the forehead

The merest flush of a cheek,

How do the dying know to wait

Until their loved ones go to the loo

Swollen bladders too full to let slip,

That very moment

When sad-eyed things pop along to the hospital canteen

For a weak coffee trickled out from a vending machine

Finding themselves stuck in traffic

In a queue at a roadworks

That was not there the day before

Missing the early train

By a whisker

Their Easyjet is cancelled

Because of staff shortage

A power outage,

So many live with pointless guilt

Close out the world and pine

With iron curtains tightly drawn

Mourning in darkness

Wringing every last drop of goodness

Out of their lives

Blaming themselves for the death,

If only they had been there,

Never able to wash the stain of blood

From their hands

Refusing to see the folly of believing

What they did or didn’t say or do

Was an issue

When what they did was always enough

Nobody wants to die alone

But then again, they just might

If only for the minute it takes to fly,

Do you believe they realise

When it is time to take their leave

Do they have an inbuilt empathy

A psychic connectivity

To the great collective.

Is the moment of death

Just purely random or self-selective

Do they make a choice to let go?

Whatever is said

Nobody really knows.

Is the shadow standing at the end of the bed

A product of grieving

Or a refusal to believe the dead have gone.

I say no to buts

If we are being watched over

By the dearly departed

Perhaps the time has come

For all good young souls

And ancient children

To go to the terminal

Look for an up-line train

It leaves from platform one

To the final destination

Travel and unravel,

Go, from the dark side to the light.

It is the least we all deserve.