Forget Heaven

author’s note:

“I yam what I yam”
        -- Popeye

Okay, Popeye, but what are you, really?


FORGET HEAVEN

Since science could not tell me
what the true nature of my being is
I chose the belief below
realizing it would serve me well--

an idea in line with this close observation:

even as these limbs
slowly lose momentum
I can feel an inner force
gradually gaining strength:
    rising--
    refining its energy.

Maybe I’m just imagining.
But in any case
I can't accept waste--I can’t accept
that what I’ve gained
through this experience
will be lost after death--
no, the entity I am
will still spin--
somewhere
in some form
I’ll be spinning up.

Some will surely say
I hold to this belief
because I want to ease
my fear of death.

But even if I realized they were right
I would still keep this belief
because it lifts me
to a place of wonder
and acceptance of all:

if I’m a spinning top
so is everyone else--
we all keep on rising
long after this life stops.

Forget heaven.
Heaven would be quitting
and I believe
the desire to be more
is ultimately stronger
than the wish to rest.
So though we may relax
occasionally
on our way up
we never stop climbing.

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