Life after Death
Or
An Atheist's Jingle Jangle
When you die, don't set foot in church:
The priest will warble, blink and lurch;
He won't know what to say or how to speak:
It'll just be another day of his Holy Week.
When you die there will be flowers from strange
People who were your friends, speeches with no range
Or variety or demonstrating a skill for writing:
Can you tell if my wit is sufficiently biting?
Your parents will justify a mass for you -
An atheist! - and if they justified anew,
They'd sit shiva as if you'd been born a Jew.
These are the risks one takes by dying!
One's friends and family are no less trying.
So live as long as you can, and die alone
As a must, because it's the only way to atone
For a life well or ill-lived, in my opinion....
In death let the church have no dominion!
Or
An Atheist's Jingle Jangle
When you die, don't set foot in church:
The priest will warble, blink and lurch;
He won't know what to say or how to speak:
It'll just be another day of his Holy Week.
When you die there will be flowers from strange
People who were your friends, speeches with no range
Or variety or demonstrating a skill for writing:
Can you tell if my wit is sufficiently biting?
Your parents will justify a mass for you -
An atheist! - and if they justified anew,
They'd sit shiva as if you'd been born a Jew.
These are the risks one takes by dying!
One's friends and family are no less trying.
So live as long as you can, and die alone
As a must, because it's the only way to atone
For a life well or ill-lived, in my opinion....
In death let the church have no dominion!
