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Nobody knows what his or her last words will be. If I die in my sleep, my last words could be "good night," or "see you tomorrow." But, if you could, what would you want your last words to be?

Or, does it matter? Why is such great emphasis placed on words? We mistake the world created by language as the real world--the world that matters most. But, language is a poor substitute for what is, I think. We hardly ever live in the world as-it-is. It is a world beyond words. I have no objection to language and communication; please do not misunderstand. I only mean to suggest that the world built on language is but a shadow of what's there. Poetry is an attempt to add in lines, dimension, depth. Of course, it too relies on words or, rather imagery and intuition, yet these are helpful in discerning what is, I think.

So, maybe last words don't matter as much as we have thought. Gandhi, pointing beyond words, said: "My life is my message." That's a different way of being in the world. His last words were "Ram, ram"--a Hindu word for God. So, at least with Gandhi, there seemed to be some congruence between his life message and his last words. If I'm honest, I'm not sure my life has conveyed any discernible message. I wish it would be: Love. But I know I haven't lived it.

returning home
carefully moving snails
by moonlight