Be present, still & silent

When confronted with a dead child

Compounded by the parent's anguish

The utter helplessness

That paralyzes the soul

Leaving it empty

Even when it knows it is pure joy

But for that period

When the child's exposed bones

Lay bare the idea of human mercy

And expose it for the fallacy that it is

Until at some point

The daisies rise from the mud -

Blooming in existential color

Beneath the perfect sun

And yet the death you've seen

The shriveled corpse of a loved one

The vacant stare as they fade to oblivion

The moment you know

That they are gone...

Forever.

And then you start to think...

Oh boy, that is me in a blink

And then the pathos fades

And the joy of life commences

The knowledge of the brevity of life

Is the same as knowing the beauty of life

Unlike the past periods of idolatry

The present mood of spirituality

Appears genuine and self-delivered

As though humans now recognize

Their proximity to the end of the species