Afterlife
July 11 2025
I found out that misfortune
doesn't spare the good.
Cells have a mind of their own.
DNA unspools, breaks, forgets
cars intersect
hearts fail.
There can be sudden death
at the hands of violent men.
I’m neither good nor bad
middling at best.
If well-intentioned matters, perhaps I barely pass,
even though it’s really only acts that count
in one’s favour.
So it seems no one’s keeping score
and there’s no reward
for good behaviour.
The universe is random,
things happen
for no reason at all.
And in its vastness
of immeasurable time
and incomprehensible space
the affairs of men are inconsequential;
we think too highly of ourselves.
But when she died
too young, too vital
after such a hard and painful fight
at least her goodness was returned,
an outpouring of help and well wishers
casserole dishes
left at the door,
a memorial service
that overflowed.
She was unaccustomed to receiving.
A giver to the end
she begged forgiveness
for being of trouble,
even kept up her good works
as best she could.
And goodness like hers
continues to serve
a world in need of more.
I subscribe to no religion
worship no God
think death is final.
And so was reassured to learn
from her example
that there’s no need to believe
in heaven or hell
or indefinite limbo,
in resurrection
reincarnation
or disembodied souls
to know
that the good have an afterlife
all their own.
Another of the Globe and Mail’s Lives Lived feature has inspired a poem. But in writing this, my friend Dorothy also came to mind: who died far too young, and at the hands of a violent man.
It’s nice to imagine that virtue will be rewarded in the ever after. But probably far more helpful in getting through the hardships of life (at least for me) is its obverse: clinging to the belief that evil will be punished.
Unfortunately, neither is true. There is no celestial accounting, and no literal afterlife. But good works live on, and unlike us, memories don’t have to die.
https://globe2go.pressreader.com/article/282175067134763
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