Perspectives on Eternity

A poem for Day 3 of the Madness and (May)hem challenge

Image: At Eternity’s Gate (1890) by Vincent Van Gogh

For Day 3 of my Madness & (May)hem challenge, I asked writers to develop a story or poem based on a photo or painting, but I challenged them to subvert expectations by writing something that evokes the opposite emotion of the piece.

For my entry, I chose “At Eternity’s Gate” by Vincent Van Gogh.

Please enjoy…

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Face buried, but the body will follow.
Standing at eternity’s gate, full of sorrow?
Death approaches with a gentle hand,
Hourglass emptier with each grain of sand.

White wings tucked beneath black robe.
Memories hung like clothes in a wardrobe.
He thought he had more time like we all do.
Never thinking he'd be done in by the flu.

His perspective and pain is all wrong.
Death is not the end of our soul’s song.
We are more than the sum of our parts.
Shackled to mortality by our beating hearts.

He lifts his face, and to death’s surprise,
Not tragedy, but joy glistening in his eyes.
He understand that this is not the end.
It’s time for his true form to finally ascend.

Eternity and death are not a condition,
they are steps in a larger transition.
A necessary change of form and place,
When you've finished running life’s race.

The man’s perspective is now infinite.
His body was merely an instrument.
While he must leave this one in the past,
New possibilities are as endless as the universe is vast.

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Thanks for Reading! Here’s Your Musical Pairing

Listen to this after reading, like pairing a glass of wine with dinner.