What Was What

To not be dead. How
Can a thing that is
Not at all once dead
Think it is not dead?
A corpse is one thing,

But you aren’t a corpse,
And you can’t be stone.
You are, and are not
Dead, or you are not.
There’s no form of you

That is you, there, dead,
That is, save for us.
You can’t know you’re dead.
You can’t tell a soul,
But we’re here for you.