A Life Or Death Situation Poem by Katy Fulker

One afternoon, the doorbell rang
And not expecting any guest,
I looked outside and realised
My visitor was Death.

I sighed relief and felt quite glad
To see a friendly face,
And one I could look straight in the eye
And never fear my place.

We had a chat, a bit of a laugh,
Then he asked me straight outright,
To run away and stay with him,
And leave that very night.

Well, it wasn't unexpected,
As the thought had crossed my mind,
And although it didn't scare me,
I wasn't sure it was the time.

I told Death maybe next time,
And Death said 'hopefully',
He told me I should never fear,
As he'd be waiting there for me.

Two days later, again I heard,
My doorbell make a sound,
But when I went to answer it,
It was not Death I found.

A figure stood before me,
Whom I vaguely recognised,
His presence scared me to the hilt,
For I knew his name was 'Life'.

He asked for a few minutes,
To have a chat with me,
So with trembling hands I let him in,
Though somewhat reluctantly.

He talked about some friends of his,
That he wanted me to meet,
He mentioned 'Hope' and also 'Chance'
And a family called 'Belief'.

At first I felt excited,
By all the possibilities,
But I soon got scared and realised,
His friends just weren't for me.

I told him I felt uneasy,
And that he really had to go,
I didn't need any new friends,
I had the safest one I know!

Life said that he was sorry,
And left at my request,
He hoped one day I'd change my mind
And see his friends were best.

Once he'd gone I started crying,
With frustration and with pain,
As I knew I had no courage,
And too much fear to ever change.

And these days I sit and think of Life,
Trying not to get too bored,
And listen for my bell to ring,
As Death's bound to call once more.