Ode to the Dead at Heart

The obituary section
Called last night about your early vacation
And they wanna know what time it ends
I told them you were indisposed, they
Said, take off the shepard’s
Clothes and they would justify your case.

What good is a man who’s dead for
Thirty years and then he
Whines and dines and then he finds
He’s been dead for years
What good is a man who dreads for
The moment he must take a
Stand and search his conscience,
Far past the fears.

Then the tears rolled down
My cheek into a hurricane of
Laughter and destruction
I could not conceive
And then my reflection caught my eye
To see, a demented figure
That resolved into a sigh

What good is a man who’s dead for
Thirty years and then he
Whines and dines and then he finds
He’s been dead for years
What good is a man who dreads for
The moment he must take a
Stand and search his conscience,
Far past the tears.

And then I woke up in a
Coffin shaped inferno full of
All the things that I have ever known.
The tormented truths I held
Punctured my enormous ego
And stunted all I’ve ever grown

What good am I alive for
The only truth I can be-
Hold I question while I’m stuck
In the pension I have sold
What good am I alive for
The smiles I have shared with
Humble people I deceived and
Cremated and mold.

As the poet, John Keats said
“A thing of beauty is a joy forever”
But I strongly disagree.
The lover’s anticipation
Never canst thou kiss the maiden
Just trapped in a frozen Grecian urn.

So I’ve been dead for
Thirty years and I’m al-
Right, healthy, all contrite
But my feet are still cold.
My friend, be not coy, and
Whisper loudly so that all can
Hear voice, that’s my choice
You’ve been told, You’ve been told…..