Dead or Alive

A section of the Book of the Dead of princess Henuttawy,

depicting Osiris, the lord of the underworld and judge of the dead,

lying beneath the personification of the night sky.

19th Dynasty of Egypt (1292-1189 BCE)

We look at the 0.01 per cent and declare: "This is it, that's the real thing"

Et nous y croyons dur comme Fer

26 — the most stable element in this universe.

We do our tour, we cry, we fight, we learn some

And do it again

Veni Vidi Vici

We say we lived, time to die

And come to the gate.

"Anything to declare?"

"Well, I had a good run, won some medals even if I lost some battles

But altogether, not a bad one for a last show"

"Last? Are you sure?"

"Pretty much so"

"See, if it were, you wouldn't pass through here"

"What?"

"You know the drill"

"What do you mean?"

"You haven't reached it, have you?"

"Reached what?"

"Oh, you know, the escape thing, the releasing energy"

"What? But that wasn't the mission, was it?"

"Well, then through the gate, to the hub, then back at it again"

"No, no, no, not for me my dearie. I have done my time."

"If you had, you wouldn't have followed the yellow brick road

So — down under, anew"

"Hey, wait a sec

I'm not dead yet!"

"Now, now, my darling one, why are you here then?"

"Huh, my mistake, my dear bailiff

Let me go back at escaping. See you not, hopefully!"

Well, Bye (I certainly will see that one again — or maybe not, who knows with those humans?)