There is a world- maybe not this one,
there is no way to be sure…
but there is a world.
Do you listen?
A world run by life and death;
a concept not unusual.
Life runs its course, and death takes your hand.
Sound familiar?
There is a world.
A world where one’s final thoughts
carry greater importance than the life lived.
Where one’s final thoughts act as a guide.
Into the afterlife, into eternity.
Do you understand?
You do not understand.
There is a world.
Where whatever one’s final thoughts may be,
become their eternity.
Thoughts of a mother leave them forever with her.
Thoughts of a daughter spend eternity with her.
Do you understand?
This world is terrible.
Thousands, stranded in a forever they had not meant for.
When does one know their final moment?
How does one know it’s their final thought?
They cannot correct their error.
Do you agree?
Is it not terrible?
I fear for my forever,
how will I know?
I fate worse than death…inescapable.
Unpredictable.
Irreversible.
Do not ask how I know.
Do not ask how I know.
Do not ask what I know.
Do not ask why I know.
Do not ask.
Do not ask.
Do you understand?
Do you understand?
You do not understand.
Very well...
I can only pray for my final thought,
to be one of love.
To spend eternity in the arms of my forever.
What a life that would be.
Brief Explanation:
The speaker is an elder whose mind has begun to slip as they cling to the belief that their final thought will be what creates their afterlife. The drifting of their mind is shown in the placement of the lines with each line moving farther and farther from the start, until the speaker asks the reader a question bringing them back to the present as represented by the right of the page. By the final line of the poem, the speaker does not ask the reader a question thus finalizing the drifting of their mind beyond where it can be reached. The speaker tries to make the reader understand to the point of almost desperation before they concede and content themselves with thoughts of love and life.
