The Grain

I took up a handful of grain

and let it slip

flowing through my fingers.

I said to myself,

"This is what it is all about.

There is no longer

any room for pretence.

At harvest time,

the essence is revealed

the straw and chaff

are set aside,

they have done their job.

The grain alone matters -

sacks of pure gold.

So it is when a person dies

the essence of that

person is revealed.

At the moment of death

a person's character

stands out happy

for the person who has

forged it well over the years.

Then it will not be the

great achievement

that will matter, nor,

how much money

or possessions

a person has amassed.

These like the

straw and the chaff,

will be left behind.

It is what

he has made of himself

that will matter.

Death can take away

from us what we have,

but it cannot rob us

of who we are.