Afterlife

The following is a poem inspired by a dream I had a while ago - or, rather, a nightmare. The dream itself was terrifying, and words can barely convey the fear I felt waking up.

Here I lie with my family around me.
The beeps of the heart monitor becoming less and less frequent.
My breathing becomes strained,
Chest struggling to cope as if a weight presses down on me.
I know what awaits me, and I am at peace with it.

Death will come as a relief,
The long battle is almost over.
It will not be a victory from me this time,
But I have said my farewells and am ready.

Feeling the darkness set in,
My eyes begin to cloud over.
I give a last smile to my dearest who squeezes my hand one last time,
Trying their best to hold on to that last glimmer of life.
Feeling my warmth one last time before my soul is taken.
Forming memories, however painful they are.

As I prepare for the inevitable,
I take one last deep breath in.
The smell of the ward is not one I had hoped for,
But those around me make it easier.

As I exhale I feel my body shutting down,
A decommissioned machine after many years of service.
I try for one more breath but my body does not allow it.
It is time.

Darkness ensues, my loved ones fade away.
The beeping becomes a singular monotonous tone.
The tone that calls for the Reaper,
To take my soul to its next place.

I hear my dearest begin to sob,
Along with the rest of my family.
I wish I could hug them one more time,
But there is nothing I can do now.

I wait.

Wait to move on.
To see the light.
To move on to something else.
Perhaps to be reborn again and start life anew.

But nothing.

I feel the emptiness of my body,
No heartbeat. No breath. No life.
I am still aware of my surroundings.

Perhaps I am just to wait a little longer.

As my family mourns around me,
I begin to wail too.
But nobody can hear me.
My body is not mines anymore,
It is simply a vessel that now belongs to the Earth.

My family begins to leave,
I try to shout and let them know that I am still here,
But to no avail.
I know I am dead, I cannot decline that reality.

No light. No life. No warmth.

I come to accept that this may be it.
Perhaps the afterlife is an eternity of consciousness
In the body which I once animated.
Now becoming a prison,
That I fear I will never leave.

Is this what happened to everyone else who has died?
I will never know.

So here I lie,
With only myself for company.
Emptiness.
Darkness.
Forever.