Born To Die Poem by Ben Gieske

Black ant on my bathroom sink
Its light no longer blinks.
Squirrel flattened victim of the tread
It’s light has since long fled.

Were they meant to Die?

Titmouse in the claws of the owl
Its life-light victim of the fowl

Worker bees in a hive
She a victim may be.
She a martyr might be
For the queen of the hive.

Were they meant to die?

The meat-eating plant
What deceit it hides.
What is your complaint?
Your were meant to die.

Come and visit awhile.
We will be pals
At least for awhile
As long as I smile.

Are we meant to die?
Conditioned by faith?
Must we live with fate?
Somehow we decide.

It’s really what we see
In the tunnel of sight
Or maybe what we believe.
With light comes sight.
With sight come light.

We were meant to die.

When life means death
After the last breath
And death means life
In the tunnel of light.

We live from within/not from without,
Not orbit bound/to zoom around and around.

Life is but a trace
Of successes and mistakes
To which we give a face
Or perhaps a name,
But it’s still the same.

In the beginning
................There was darkness
................................- then light.
In the beginning
................was the Word
................................- then life.
Where we meant to live
.................- then die
................................- and live?

- August 23,2006