The Last Chapter

by Arthur Mampel

Before the ecstasy of the other side
There is great wonder and doubt.
The mind is unsettled, the unease of heart.
There is too much silence.

Too much night, too many questions:
Are we betrayed, victims
Of an innocent beginning?
The monstrous uncertainty of that first nudge

Into the outer edge of final darkness
Chills the bone and weakens the will.
The insanity of faith, the insistence
Of logic and reason creates a void

We cannot pass over or penetrate.
Perhaps, after present things vanish,
Before the finality of breath
A switch turns on and there is light?