All my grandparents have left,
Yet none of them are gone.
They left behind disease,
They left behind old age,
They left behind suff’ring.
Now it all starts anew,
Every spirit’s next step.
How do I know we have spirits?
The separation of soul and mind.
Our brains are physical entities,
Some believe that’s all we are,
My disorder didn’t allow me to.
I hadn’t always been able to tell —
I used to think there was no difference —
Nothing to denote my brain from soul.
In-depth meditation showed me how.
What happens to spirits after death?
A question most religions answer,
Versions of varying optimism.
Science cannot give explanation,
But it may offer a hypothesis.
Energy is neither created nor destroyed,
But the form energy takes constantly changes.
It’s how our Universe always has the same amount of energy,
As it “expands” to create more stars and planets far from our reach.
Likewise my soul has existed,
Before this life gave light to it,
And continuing on after.
Our souls cannot cease to exist,
So where exactly do we go?
My four grandparents believed in Heaven,
Perhaps that’s where they are right now.
I never told them what I believe,
Perhaps they’d have thought it absurd.
Still it’s what I believe to be true:
They are living different lives,
Ones that will teach what past ones did not,
Adding up until their culmination,
Freeing them from recycling birth,
Their souls reaching infinite peace.
Why do our souls live?
To live is to suffer.
My grandparents had their fair share,
From fighting wars to fighting illness.
Regardless of adversary,
Prevailing kindness,
Serving charitably,
Striving improvement.
Karma for their next lives will treat them benevolently,
Allowing their souls further growth in new environments.
No matter the religion you’re apart of,
Or the belief system you adhere to,
I hope your category will tell you,
This absolute truth:
Spirits,
Souls,
Us,
We don’t die.
Mindfully Messy 