Ignored Corpse on the Paris Metro in 1987

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Words Found On A Corpse On the Paris Metro

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The moment comes

contradictions obvious

vision crystal-clear

pain being alone

there is dignity

in honest moment alone

when the heart feels

loneliness of living

there is fullness

Freedom  in love

doing right unto others

taking the moment 

for what it is

living in it

there is release

in turning

the moment over

facing feelings of now

even though 

they cause pain

there is peace 

in death

what grows from 

life's compost

of living 

in the moment

of being 

then letting go

I am now free

Of life's mysery

Great mystery

I am coming home

To my father's 

mansion 

It is time 

I feel peace 

Finally

I let go

I let go

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There comes a time when there is nowhere left to go, and you surrender. Life can be suffering, but release finally arrives, and there is nothing left to do.

Found these words on a corpse in the Paris metro in 1987. Everyone walked by him like he wasn't there. I stopped and sat by him and said some prayers. I could smell urine, and there was a needle in his arm. On his face was a smile and his eyes rolled back white.

An odd feeling of peace came over me. I don't know how long I sat there as people walked by. I saw a piece of paper in his stiff fingers which I read it. It was the words above. Who was I to judge this man? From his words, he seemed a good man. It seemed this was the end he wished for. He had found peace at the end in his final moments .

The people kept walking by. Then one woman looked at him with disdain. With her fur coat and designer purse, expensive shoes. I told her if she wished to see death to look in the mirror.

The peace in his rolled-back white eyes and smile has never left me. I copied the words, put them back in his hands, and covered him with a blanket in my backpack.

I did not want to leave him but had no choice, so from my heart said another prayer and left him. The strangest thing was I felt blessed by this man I am not sure he needed my prayers. 

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David Arndt in 1987 in France, at the Paris Metro, on my way to the cathedral of Notre Dame.