NO COWARD'S SONG

I am afraid to think about my death,

When it shall be, and whether in great pain

I shall rise up and fight the air for breath

Or calmly wait the bursting of my brain.

I am no coward who could seek in fear

A folklore solace or sweet Indian tales:

I know dead men are deaf and cannot hear

The singing of a thousand nightingales.

I know dead men are blind and cannot see

The friend that shuts in horror their big eyes,

And they are witless — O I'd rather be

A living mouse than dead as a man dies.