If I Should Die
By Jeremy Madsen
If I should die,
how would I die?
Would I die in a way
where people would cry?
If so . . . why?
Would I die as a hero,
performing a task
of daring, or skill,
or courage, or laughter,
or sheer force of will?
Is that how I’d die?
Would I die at an age
where I’m stricken in years,
having lived a long life
of laughter . . .
. . . and tears?
Would I die with the weight
of the guilt and the glory,
for how I have touched
a life
or a story?
Would I die with regret
for the moments, days,
weeks, months, years,
the lifetime
I wasted?
Is that how I’d die?
Or would I die
with joy on my face
as I see, through the curtain,
a holier place?
That is how I’d want to die.