DEATH POEM

Writer's Club occasionally does writing exercises, which different members prepare.  Last night one of the members gave us the assignment to write a death poem.  He explained that the samurai do this prior to disemboweling themselves.  But his twist on the assignment was that we could be dying from natural causes or by our own hand, and it could be for ourselves or be one of our characters from our book.  Would we brag on how much we had done, or see our lives as unfullfilled?  Would we have regrets or go feeling accomplished and complete? Wow!  This was tough enough, but then we only had 10 minutes to write it for presentation!
I chose myself since I have not been doing well on my book.
My first thought was of tears; tears shed by loved ones, by me, by those in my  life.  Tears which touched and affected me by the emotions within them.
Then I thought of my poetry and how much I hope it will exist after me, touching others, creating feeling and thought.
So, as rough as it is, here I present my Death poem.

Occasionally tears flowed beneath my mask
shielding others from added pain,
tears shed for my own circumstance,
but also in empathy for those in my life.

So I wrote,
my words dancing on the air
jewelling lives of others,
flowing freely.

I spread them like seeds,
sowing thought and feeling.
Some may take root
within a heart or emotion
of another, and live
long after I have been immersed
into earthly beauty.

My words will endure
through those they touch
and thus I will exist immortal.
.fini.


My challenge--What would you write?