"When I Go"

I’m reading a book right now called Crazy Love, by Francis Chan. One chapter was about how transitory life is, and how we take for granted that we’ll be alive tomorrow. We assume that everything will continue the same, so we put off the most important things in life. “I can witness to her the next time I see her. There’s no hurry to do it today.” We don’t often recognize how short life is, and how there’s no guarantee that we’ll be here tomorrow. We also don’t think about whether or not we are making a difference for God’s kingdom in the time we are given. What will be said of us when we die? The chapter got me thinking, and I wrote a poem about it, entitled “When I Go.”

Will you miss me?
When I go?
When day turns to dusk
The stars come aglow
And the evening of life takes over?

When all is at rest,
And I can no longer see you standing next to me
When I breathe my last and go to meet my Maker
Will you miss me?

Will you miss me?
When I’m gone?
When all’s said and done,
The tallies are drawn,
And you think of the impact I’ve left?

When I lie inert,
Unable to do so much as say hello to you
When I have left you and gone on to my new life
Will you miss me?


What will they say of me?
When I die?
“She was nice,” “She was pretty,”
“She always said ‘hi’,”
What of eternal significance will outlast me when I leave?

A funeral is nice,
You have to say something kind about the deceased
But will you be able to say anything beyond that?
Will you care?

What will they say of me?
When I’m gone?
Did I make a difference
For those all alone
Did I show His light to a world in need of His wonderful love?

Did I have an impact
Beyond that of one who lived for personal gain
And did only what was expected of her, nothing more?
Will you remember?

When I go?