No embalming. Just bury me in a shroud and let me break down naturally.

My body should be eternally preserved (at State expense) and exhibited in a glass coffin in front of the Washington Monument.

**The End of Sentience**

The day I die, that’s it. I’m Dead.
Remember whilst you’re sighing
That the act of life, of birth and being,
Includes the act of dying.

No mausoleum, no funeral pyre,
Just lay me in the earth.
Let my body restore a part of what
It has plundered since its birth.

No platitudes, no priests, no myths
Of life in the everlasting.
Remember me for what I was.
Perhaps, gently regret my passing.

Perhaps, think of me as in the breeze,
But always bear in mind
It's just a ploy to ease the thoughts
Of those we leave behind.

We all must die; and yet live on,
Though neither in heaven nor hell:
But through genes, passed on, and on again
Down time’s eternal swell.

And also through deeds. The consequence
Of what we do on Earth
Can affect the lives of thousands
Who have yet to discover birth.

Judge not a life by piety,
But by things for which it stood.
Not from pious fear of godly wrath,
But from belief in the might of good.

It's possible we'll meet again
But only if, some day,
Men learn to bend the rules of time
And travel back this way

For once I’ve died, that’s it. I’m dead!
My sentience ends that day.
It will not have an after-life:
I won't know if you pray.

Petter Finne
copyright, 20.06.2009. " The End of Sentience "
This poem, and the comments below, may be freely reproduced, provided the above author is given credit.

We should all do our bit to reduce the number of people dying - practise contraception!

THOUGHTS ON CONDUCTING A FUNERAL

The word funeral starts with “FUN” - - please keep it that way

It’s the last event that my body may ever physically attend...
... Make sure there’s a damned good party!
Were I going to a carefree, unfettered party I wouldn’t wear a fine, expensive suit...
... don’t waste money on the coffin.

Would like to die alone and lost in the woods, so that the animals can eat.

I want to be tree fertilizer. In my will, I asked to be cremated.

I requested that my daughter toss my ashes in the woods in my beloved Cascade Mountains.

Donating to science.

I am not an atheist but I had told my children, when I die, just make sure I am dead and I could careless what you do as to my body, funeral, etc. Otherwise, I have registered with my driver's license to be an organ donor if in that type of an event were to be feasible .

I hope to be stuffed and mounted in a lifelike pose leaning against the rail down at the tavern, with a hidden camera running to record unsuspecting drunks trying to have conversations with me, so others can watch the fun when they realize I'm just a dead guy.

Or, Viking funeral. Rowboat, a cord or two of wood, some kindling, and a few gallons of kerosene ought to do her. I have several friends who I'm sure would be delighted to shoot flaming arrows at my corpse.