Dear John Paul You wrote of death As the definition of life To which they declared You an eternal pessimist Unable to see how war Shaped your reality watching First hand as life was snatched From youth who barely lived Cut down in cold blood in battle Before they even understood Life and it’s deeper meaning Those who lived were tempered By death to find the sweetest fruit Each day because baptized in death They realized there was no guarantee The sun would rise for them tomorrow Dear John Paul In this you saw lessons being learned Wondering if seeing death was necessary Or if we could each learn that death waits For each of us at an uncertain hour Knowing that Damocles sword hangs Ever ready to cut our life’s thread Should spur us to live each moment To its fullest as our final breath awaits Often at a moment not of our choosing Dear John Paul There are many who think you a pessimist Ignoring the inevitable consequence of life Pretending that tomorrow will always come Spending their lives waiting because of it Making excuses for not living in the moment Failing to recognize that this moment is it It is all we are promised in this short life Dear John Paul I thank you for your insights I embrace death as a companion That walks beside me in all I do As a reminder that finality waits For no man and comes as it pleases
This week’s experimental poem is an Epistle, a letter written to someone covering philosophical considerations. You can read more about this form by clicking here.
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