A Poet’s View of Death

by Carmen Ruggero

If death should come quickly while in my sleep,
well then, I will not see the birth of day,
the loss of which will not cause me to weep.
Good, bad, what’s gone is gone, be as it may.

If I should close my eyes and never wake,
I will not miss the dawn or what it brings.
Not the fawn, the flower, ocean, or lake;
my spirit will not want of earthly things.

If curtain fall should catch my speech not done,
will you miss the words you’ve not heard me speak?
I will not miss the approval lost or won;
play’s done: there’s nothing more to critique.

But should I die not having known love’s bliss,
I will weep, though for nothing else but this.