Life and Death – lying side by side.

I see two bodies
Lying side by side,
Identical in form and appearance.

What is surprising is
That they look just like me.

So, now we are three of us here!

Having observed them from a distance
For some time now,
I have been pondering over this question:
What is the difference between
These two that lie in front of me?

I look closely,
But except for one breathing belly,
That tells me that
There is life in one
And death in another,
I could find no difference.

The expressionless look on their faces,
Astonishingly similar.
Their radiance,
That couldn’t be differentiated.
The silent aura of each,
Seemed to be overlapping the other’s,
And I could feel the resonance.
No dreams, no thoughts,
Seemed to occupy their minds.

A thought suddenly, tells me
That if I touched them both now,
Either they both would wake up,
Or none would.
So alive or death-ful were they.

I come out of thought
And realize that one wouldn’t wake up,
Even while he seemed to do so.

Oh, what is happening here!
Is death in one trying to tell me
That I live death when I sleep,
Or, is sleep in the other trying to tell me,
That I die during each such sleep.

Is sleep a temporary death?
And death a permanent sleep?

Anyways, an extraordinary night has passed
And, it is morning!
And, one is awake
While the other sleeps, unconcernedly.

A new day lies ahead of the awakened!

Now, what can the awakened
Not experience?
Or, the dead
experience?

What can the awakened
Not do?
Or, the dead
do?

This morning:
The awakened tells me
To live while I can,
And the dead tells me
To live before it comes.

The dead reminds me
Of a chance life gives me
To live.
And the awakened reminds me
Of a rest death gives me
After life.

(Picture Courtesy: Web)