Buried Above Ground

When people talk about the right to die
I keep my silence, never explaining why.

From those who claim they want to be close friends
I walk away, given how their story ends

with them stacked long-forgotten underground
while I patrol the packed earth’s funeral mound.

When talking heads cite wars and history
I doze while they drone on superfluously –

I’ve seen the generations come and go
each learning nothing from the past’s peep show.

This could be heaven, or it could be hell
though were they both the same, I couldn’t tell

nor if I’m not alone, though even the one
who challenged me to re-confront the sun

soon took my place in the dark I’d briefly known –
but I’d already turned my heart to stone.


Tom Vaughan

If you have any thoughts about this poem, Tom Vaughan would be pleased to hear them