The Land Of The Living Poem by Larry Kilham

What could he tell me of life?
Sitting in the creaking rocker
smiling through a wrinkled face.

Do not wander as a rootless tree he said—
plant a tree, have a child, write a book.
Create and avoid the land of the dead.

Life is about leaving something behind.
It is culture that remains
with tales and creations of the mind.

He closed his eyes and said
The earth is all that lasts
and lost are the dead.