Or Sleep Then Go

Dying isn’t going.
Dying’s loss of function.
The functions go—that’s kind

Of going. Something goes,
But dying can complete
Itself in present flesh,

The present corpse before—
Sometimes long, long before—
The corpse goes. Hi, Ötzi.

The functions go, and then
Taphonomy varies
Widely—in bogs, in caves,

In ice, sand, bitumen.
In a way, dying is
Only what’s first to go.

Not to be cute, but death
Is just the beginning
Of disintegrating.

So no, life’s not going
For naught anytime soon,
Not for the likes of you.