Matters of After-life

Photo by Oscar Sutton on Unsplash

For the longest time

some words were spoken

under the polite breath

in a series of pacifist decisions

and then there were concerns

about heavy-handed indictments

at the stake, of being, burnt alive

of being impaled in others’ eyes

called too much or too little

to walk the unforgiving dotted line

so stayed,

despite being free to leave

because even as the soul departs

one has a reputation to keep