Towards the end of life
you count the cost,
of all you've gained,
and all you've lost;

like your spouse
and loved ones,
who've passed away,
and those cherished possessions,
that dissolved into space.

Not to forget
elderly gains,
of arthritic joints,
and progressing pain;
with bouts of dysfunction,
and crippling disease,
and uncomfortable,
accompanying
indignities.

You yearn for sweetness
but suck on dregs,
as memory stutters,
and the body decays...;

for the important
things
have faded away,
leaving tedious, boring,
purposeless days;

and the only question
that still remains,
is what,
if anything,
lies beyond the grave.