Why We Don’t Die
By Robert Bly
In late September many voices
Tell you you will die.
That leaf says it, that coolness.
All of them are right.
Our many souls—what
Can they do about it?
Nothing. They’re already
Part of the invisible.
Our souls have been
Longing to go home
Anyway. “It's late,” they say,
“Lock the door, let’s go.”
The body doesn't agree. It says
“We buried a little iron
Ball under that tree.
Let’s go get it.”
Copyright Credit: Reprinted from Collected Poems of Robert Bly. Copyright © 2018, 2011, 2005, 2001, 1997, 1994, 1985, 1981, 1979, 1977, 1975, 1973, 1972, 1967, 1966, 1965, 1964, 1963, 1962, 1961, 1960, 1959, 1953 by Robert Bly. Used with permission of the publisher, W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. All rights reserved.