there are some gains from adding years to life
then there are losses from the very start
that cannot be avoided by the art
or skill that teaches ease of horrid strife
although the world with pain and death is rife
we don't just throw the bodies on the cart
and pass on by each of us has some heart
yet still we know we must go under knife
no magic keeps us hidden from the fact
that life's a process with an ending point
and not some bird forever on the wing
this play must reach at last the closing act
the times must be put into proper joint
and winter come long after the bright spring