Chris Butler

Deathbed

When you die, 
life doesn’t flash 
before your eyes.

There is only
the void at the end 
of delirium’s tunnel. 

The surge of 
vital organs 
powering down, 
oxygen deprivation
strangling the brain
and intraveneous 
morphine drips…

…illusions,
delusions,
and auditory 
and visual 
veridical
hallucinations, 
feels like spiritual
transformation,
providing false hope
when one experiences
and witnesses 
of their ghostly god 
who blames your ills 
on your sinful life, 
accompanied by 
apparations of 
angels soaring around 
the room like birds 
trapped indoors in 
a world of hopeless
glass windows,
and loved ones lost,
promising a second
chance for reunification
and reconciliation,
coaxing you to follow
the burning light,

down the 
everlasting slide
of terminal lucidity
in Lucifer’s eternity.