The soul lives on forever, so we know.
It's nice to think that I will never die.
Forevermore, I've countless lives to go.
I'll never have to tell myself goodbye.

But look both ways—ahead, behind—my friends,
Repeated birth, disease, old age, and death.
I shudder just to know it never ends:
Eternal strife and fear with every breath.

And yet I've no one but myself to blame.
I know that Maya's charm is all deceit.
I should be chanting Krishna's holy name,
And find my deathless life at Krishna's feet.

But still I look for joy in Maya's hand,
When life unending waits in Krishna's land.

© Umapati Swami, January 9, 2007