Ellis Paul

This is my true life story

Of karma and coincidence

Of the afterlife and innocence

Of a child and my father's ghost

My father slipped into

The sweet forever after

Surrounded by tears and laughter

He stepped into the great unknown

Into the afterlife

The mysterious afterlife

On the long train ride home

I was an orphan in the twilight

Praying that by daylight

I could speak to my father's ghost

But no one came

Who shared my name

Till my daughter

With her 5-year-old eyes

She asked me,

“Where did Papa go when he died?"

Oh, the innocence

The mysterious afterlife

I said, "Honey, some people believe

That when you die

You go to Heaven

There are angels there awaiting

There will be family with open arms

Still others believe

We are nothing more than stardust

We are coincidence

And to stardust we return

But the Buddhists believe

You can build a life of good karma

The afterlife won't harm you

You can come back as a living thing

Like a bird that sings

Flying into the afterlife”

So my daughter says to me,

“Well then,

Could I come back as a puppy?"

I say "Yes,

If what the Buddhists say is true".

But then her voice changed

And the tears came

She said, "If I came back as a puppy,

Would I belong to you?"

Oh, the innocence.....

Karma and coincidence

The afterlife

The innocence

The afterlife

The innocence