Afterlife Poem by Lily Ives

Trapped by the idea of an unchanging
and everlasting self, we seek to outlive death
through religion and faith.
What a pity that we can't see,
that we keep changing states.
We rose from, and live
on the ashes of the living,
and so, we shall too one day,
return the gift that keeps on giving.
The flesh and the ego are ephemeral,
but our very essence is eternal.
The energy that makes us will remain constant
no matter what face it takes.
We will stay connected to those parts that made us,
long after our bodies are laid to rest.

We dream to arrive at heaven's gate
to bask in the light of God's divine grace.
If God is infinite, then there's no boundary
between where we end, and he begins.
Man, and God already coexist
in the realms of the dead and the living.
Heaven isn't out there; it's within.
 
We may seek salvation,
but we are already free
because one cannot
ascribe to energy moral duality.
Sins cannot be cured by probity
because ethical lines are murky.
The concept of good and evil only exists,
in so far to help us jibe with our tribe.

The fish doesn't know
that it's wet in the sea,
nor the magnitude of life
that flourishes on the lands above,
where its eyes cannot see.
A person's umwelt is also a fallacy.
We cannot fathom the contents
of each other's mind, nor that we exist
because the building blocks that make us,
are continually trading places with nature.

The mysteries of life will remain veiled,
so let the unknown dissolve your attachment
to a permanent self.
Be present and in awe,
of all the wonder before your eyes!
You don't need an afterlife
when you've already been around
since the dawn of time.