Like falling grains of sand

Poem about death

Like falling grains of sand, our lives do pass
Just as the flowing river rushes by;
Never was it to be for us to last,
Hearts stop beating, lungs stop breathing, we die.

For it is time that wears the flesh, the bone,
And the mind is also slowed and maddened;
It is this one fact that is truly known,
The fact that all is doomed, destined to end.

But this truth is what makes life worth living
For anticipation, in part, gives breath;
For it is this fear of it that's life-giving;
For life would never be life without death.

So from this world to the next we ascend,
We must acknowledge that which is the end.