The Final Epilogue: A Poem by E.T. Milligan

from the poetry book ‘Images of Life’

I always wondered what death would be like, what would you feel, would you be aware of what’s happening around you. I thought about a person being in the grave and being aware of the circumstances, while having a moment to reflect on what they accomplished in life and what regrets they have. The message in this poem is to make the most of your life while you have the chance.

The Final Epilogue A Poem by E.T. Milligan

with the last senses I had left,

i faintly heard the final chunk

of earth beneath a “clunk, clunk, clunk!

a “clunk” then “clank” as shovels drop

above my pailing red pine box

the hardened clay above me

kept me inner housing warm

yet cold and lonely death could be

with six feet of earth packed around me.

still I heard lamenting cries

moving away, slowly, regretfully

in earth a hostage south of clouds

and north of where inferno lied

for sixty years, I wondered, what it does

for man to see another dimension

beneath a world of scandalous lies,

hatred, bigotry and over dissension

scared to think if what I’ve done

had been enough, it mattered not,

my evolution, there I was

had I been too veiled to see

how the future would unfold before me

those many years of chance and gambles

surpassed like sphere of a roulette wheel

spinning forever in unstoppable motion

then halted by only the final decree

capitulation of all my actions

inquired damnation or salvation

wherever will my soul be flocking

i wondered, lying here at the crossing

an azimuth to only one direction, ever knowing,

resurrection would soon be knocking

Copyright © Edward T. Milligan, 2005

All rights reserved.

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A Poem by E T Milligan

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