They say death is the greatest fear

They never say if it’s our own

Or everyone else’s.

But that is such a vague description

Of the fear.

We fear that there’s nothing after we’re gone

Just black,

Empty,

Nothingness.

We fear that when someone we love dies,

That we won’t know how to live without them

And that we won’t know where they ended up.

There are no lessons on death,

Sure, there are therapists,

And conspiracy theories,

And religious beliefs,

And funerals.

We hush around the topic,

We try not to bring it up,

We say “I’m sorry for your loss,”

We lie that it gets easier,

We protect ourselves

By creating a beautiful afterlife

But the greatest fear of it all

Is that we can not be taught about death

It is the greatest question of humankind

With no answer at all,

Our elders can give us their opinions

An old book can create an image

But we will never know, nor understand,

Until that fear has become a reality