When I Die

I too have this same want.
I could ramble on about this subject for hours. Enjoyed your poem.

Thank you for taking the time to read this, Nikki. I'm happy that you can relate... And I'm glad that you took the time to let me know :)

This is so dope and definitely speaks to me👏👏
"Don’t pump me full of chemicals    
And put me on display;    
Just bury me beneath the earth,    
And plant a seed upon my grave.  "
I feel ya this is exactly how I feel
I don't think that's the way it should be done at all

"The idea of preserving the body just seems so unnatural. Why not just let nature take its course?"
I so agree it makes no sense
Enjoyed this profound piece!👏

Thanks so much, Hunter! I'm glad that my thoughts on death resonated with you as well. I appreciate the kind words :)

Beautiful. Transforms the indignity of death rituals into a natural expression of life's inevitable cycle.

Your comment is poetry in itself; such a beautifully concise summary. Thanks for your heartfelt compliment... It means a lot. I appreciate that, KillHope!

Nice work!

Thanks so much for that, Keke!

I appreciate you reading this and sharing your thoughts on the matter; this has been my philosophy for quite some time now. I really value your opinion, so it means a lot to get feedback from you! Thanks again, friend :)

I agree with this philosophy. We are part of a whole. The differences are the types of atomic and biological compositions. How few letters of the alphabet can form so many words and poems

"The differences are the types of atomic and biological compositions. How few letters of the alphabet can form so many words and poems"

Your statement is poetically profound. Great analogy! And so very true! I am glad that you related :)

NewB,
Another fantastically written piece.
If this were a baseball poetry league, you would be a frontrunner for Rookie of the Year.
Great.
MZ.

Thanks for that, Matthew! How nice of you :). So glad that you enjoyed it!

Beautiful and very relatable, such amazing words 🍃

I deeply appreciate your heartfelt words, and I'm glad that you can relate. Thanks for the wonderful compliment!

Thanks so much for the heartfelt comment, WhispersWeKeep.
Ah, the traditions that bind us... it's catching on though. It would be wonderful to have forests instead of graveyards - and it's a much less morbid approach if you ask me. You see a graveyard and you think of death, but when you see a tree, you think of life.

I feel the same call of action you explain... at times. Others I am lazy and unproductive. The best you can do is look in to the practice, inform others and educate them about why it's better, and go through with it yourself to show others that it is practical. You start with friends and family. Just some ideas. I mean, we can talk about it all day, but unless we research more, it will never happen.

You're very welcome, and I'm so glad that this one resonated with you so well. I appreciate your kind words, and your continued support! Have a great night :)

Hi, NewB  
 
I like this piece!  A simple poem on a complex theme, it comes across as a kind of last will and testament.  The title makes the poem alive and prospective by arresting a moment in time, “when I die.”  
   
The persona has no time for trivialities (“pretty little basket”), where the trimmings are merely for the appeasement of the remnant world.  
   
Chemical camouflage is also for the outside world (“don’t put me on display”).  The Bible refers to whited sephuchres full of dead men’s bones.  
   
Stark contrast:  the author faces reality (“pretty little basket” versus “body rots below”), as the pendulum swings between the real and the unreal, between life and death, the blooms and the stench.  “As I become the tree”:  to become a tree is to leave your roots (“little molecules of me”) behind.  
   
Structurally, the dominant use of a hymnodic form/Hymnal Stanza (alternating quatrain with iambics, in stanzas 1 and 4) seems to speak to the solemnity of death.  However, the Ballad Stanza (abab with iambic tetrametre) form of verse 3 suggests a slow, sentimental atmosphere, as of one contemplating the mysteries of the Grim Reaper.  The half rhymes of verse 2 mirror, perhaps, the uncertainty of death:  the persona cannot guarantee that he will receive a fitting epitaph in a moment over which he has no control.  
   
 “I become the tree” would be a fitting epitaph for the author's future rest!  
   
Well done.

Wow, Clyve! Thanks for your wonderful in-depth analysis of my poetry! Many of the elements that you have described came naturally without much technical analysis, but it still came together quite well. You seem like you know your stuff pretty well. Are you an English scholar?

Anyway, I really appreciate that, man!

Not an English scholar, at all.  But I really like wordplay.  In my days of studying music professionally, I had to do intricate in-depth analyses of musical compositions.  I guess there is a carryover.

I see. Well, you have a gift :)

I completely agree with you. I understand why some people would want traditional burials, but I do think that it is more symbolic to become “one with nature” again. I, too, would like the same thing when I die.  I don’t want to be preserved with chemicals, I just want to break down and let the cycle continue. Very deep read, thank you for posting this. <3

Aww, thanks for your comment, sol :)

I completely agree. Why complicate the natural process of decomposition by pumping the body full of formaldehyde and whatever else just so the family can get one last look at the body. I get the closure thing, but it's kind of weird in a way too.

This is lovely.  I too don't want any of that other stuff.  I read about a company that will take a person's ashes and buries them in the earth with tree seedlings.  So same idea.

This was beautiful and I liked the story you told....xo

Thank you, Mysteria, for your kind compliments. I'm glad that you enjoyed it.

Upon further reading, the cost for the burial pod burial would be between $1000 - 4000 (compared to the 5-10k most people end up spending on funeral costs. Most of the cost isn't actually the pod, but usually for the plot of land, which is usually a little bigger than a typical gravesite. Now, if you owned the land, it might be virtually costless under thean the handling of the body, and digging the hole. Unless you owned your land, with cremation combined, that could get pretty costly. Also, I'm not so sure cremation is that great for the environment either.

Here's an interesting article that I read on the subject:

https://www.desmogblog.com/cremation-ignites-global-warming-atmospheric-conflagration

Here was the clincher:

"Since it takes two to four hours at temperatures ranging from 1,400 and 2,100 F, or 760 and 1,150 C, the estimated energy required to cremate one body is roughly equal to the amount of fuel required to drive 4,800 miles, or 7,725 kilometers."

Anyway, just thought I'd share. If you want to learn more about burial pods, here is a site to learn more:

https://www.beatree.com/

Oh, and one last idea that seemed kind of cool - a company that will take human hair or cremated remains and make a memorial diamond from the carbon:

https://www.lonite.com/cremation-ashes-into-diamonds/

Although, this method is a little too flashy for a person like me, I still think the concept is very cool :)

Thanks for stopping by again, Mysteria. It's always a pleasure to read your words!

I knew about the cremation jewelry.   It's very interesting indeed.  I heard in 2050 there will be no more places to bury people.  I think more and more people will consider cremation.

I know the catholics once said to be cremated is a sin....but now have changed the rules.  Just as long as there is a mass before the cremation.  I guess they need their money too.  Lol....xo

Heh, by 2050, our population is projected to reach ~10 billion people. I'm afraid by then, graves won't be the only thing we'll be running out of.

Thanks for the discussion, Mysteria.

This resonates deeply with me. Amazing ink.

It means a lot hear that from so many people. I truly appreciate the heartfelt comment and RL, cnb!

Bravo NewB........what an outstanding ink.......you brought beauty to death......such talent shared with us.......beautiful soul you are......RL for me.....purple luv & hugs xo :)

Those are great compliments that you give, flowergirl! I am humbled!!

simple and beautiful, thank you

And thank you, Doreen, for stopping by!

Capturing the circle of life so eloquently

Profound ink NewB. We Muslims are buried on the earth within 24 hours when we die. even with this Covid19 pandemic cremation is not permitted because our belief is that our body will be resurrected from the earth. Beautiful perspective  you penned here
🙏🌹

Different people, different cultures, different ways. Regards, Robert.