The Other Side Poem by Tebogo Tshegofatso

These bells toll for who,
With so grim a tendency?
The shackles jangle for who,
With half their life gone?
I'm already on the other side.
And these curved sickles,
Bending to such ill-will?
And the stammering rifles?
Finding to their dismay:
I've passed to the other side.
Who hanged this sewn robe,
And perverted its purpose?
Who poisoned the snake,
And took for horror its hiss?
Can it slay me on the other side?
Take away your black,
It's reserved for the living,
As for your forced hymns,
They cannot deceive me,
Lies cannot reach the other side.
Therefore who sings,
And what good is their song?
Who strikes the gong,
And how long is its beat?
This is foolishness on the other side.
Do nothing or do something,
Just don't do anything.
The bell tolls for you who live,
Therefore live wisely;
For you're coming to the other side.