When I Die Poem by Ikechukwu Ogbuike

When I die
I don’t want to be laid in state so those who knew me can come and lie
Bury me therefore when I die
And if hell is my destination, let me go there and fry.
The day I was born was the day I was warned
To beware of the frivolities that has got many drowned
Growing old thought me that even children looses their innocence
And whatever it is that is manmade never achieves permanence
So if I have had a lifetime of making choices
This six feet deep should therefore be accomplished with ease… not those foolish noises


I have been down this road before as I searched for this paradise
I have come to realize life is not more than throwing a dice
Sometimes you win some and other times you lose some
The greatest joy is not the winning or losing but being part of that some
On a day I watched the sun go down
I was surprise that on my face was plastered a frown
When the ancients entered it in the book, it said this day will never come again
Is this a reality or is just my mind playing those same old games?

In this life everyone wants to win
But on this one journey most do not know where to begin
See how we are so engrossed with books
Knowledge that has plenty Prada and airs but does not dispel those strange looks
Looks that says with so many equipages for bravery
Oiled muscles, sleek edification, and the internet, how come life is still this drudgery
Let us then continue bragging with each other
Maybe down the road we will discover it’s all a bluff to know who will be the first to break out of cover
You see this parchment that holds this reason together
Has always been illusory and this is why most fail to cross that border
I have always known this collective knowledge
Does not provided the needed leverage
If my truth is your truth it will become our truth
It does not take a mind of ice to discover however who has become the fool
So do not walk that way because it is the way they walked
You are only liable to your contours, so paint this stroke finely …
When you come to the path that is forked

This road I stand on once stood Lazarus
The truth I seek is not going to be rescued by a man from Belarus
But by me
The one that remains unseen
This hypocrisy
Is all too easy
There is a thin divide between this future and the past
That is encapsulated in destiny when we could not let go mistakes that are vast
See… this is why all known affectations
Does not sound as deep as the pronunciations
Even knowing this has and will never stop humanity
If ever there is anything man is good at, it is to invent new insanity
And so rather than take a beacon from those who walked the past
We continue to repackage this illusion until it appears to the shortsighted as a fact,

If I die and you feel you must mourn
Let it then be for scorn
For the wasted waking up and rests
And which now the Judge graciously waits for the result of those tests
If you are privileged to realize how grievous are my mistakes
Cry your heart out then beloved, for you are alive and still have sight
To sacrifice all for this Kingdom sakes
Is all the wealth there should be for every willing heart
In the end what becomes us is in us
A choice which has to be made to get beyond a ruse
Not to live
Is almost as painful as living in deceit
So please when I die
Don’t come to spin windies, simply let me lie.