IF LIFE LOSES ITS TASTE

When like a coward I die before my time

Or my cult, have I desecrated before great and mean men?

Send me not too far from my peers

For they shall partake of my penalties

And, if with profanity, I speak of my tradition

My burial [traditional] rites shall be nullified.

If by the night, my life lost its taste

Let every member of my clan; seek not the flavor from afar

But within the angels, if by chance regain its place

I shall forever remain grateful to the mercy granted me

But if like a candle wax, it melts away easily

Without delay, I will choose a heart and life of stone

If like an Archangel, I could see God by face

I shall without stress, exchange my life with angels’ immortal

And if he asks of a life I’d love to choose

I’d better prefer a life of plants like sequoia

Whose lifespan is closely competing with eternity

But, death in all is as wicked and heartless as the devil.