A Child Entering Death

A child put to bed, In a large, dark room; At first, frightened But then, the door creaks, slightly ajar, Where a skant slant of light, carrying booms of laughter floods the room From its narrow wedge The warm familial sounds Of aunts and uncles from a party next door, Where old friends and family are So the child rises up, out of bed And walks toward its light… This is how we should enter Death. John T Tansey