Ghazal–Dead

Ghazal—Dead
Rachel Rosenberg

What does it mean to be dead?
How does it feel to be dead?

When zombies walk this world,
do they know that they are dead?

Is life merely a process?
If I fail to reproduce, does that make me dead?

You can run from me if you choose,
or from fate. Either way you’ll end up dead.

Mushrooms grow on the corpses of trees.
Do they think of themselves as eaters of the dead?

The dead don’t diet. The dead count no calories;
brains must not be fattening. Good for the dead.

If a perfect clone has all my memories,
and I die, am I dead?

Love me now! Let us be together,
that we may avoid becoming hollow and dead!

Zombies move, eat, sometimes reproduce,
yet they do not move or excrete. So they are dead.

Become a writer of history
by making all your dissenters dead.

If your life lacks imagination,
you may already be dead.

The sweet rose lives on the branch, and still dies.
Yet if it is plucked, that much sooner will it be dead.