I don't believe in heaven or hell,
So I don't need a temple or church,
Though I love the sound of a ringing bell
And the sight of a snow-white birch.

Life went on eons before I came
And will go on after I depart
When my time will be only a name
And the eras of others will start.

Eternity may be but a human dream
And not a universal truth at all;
Great darkness may end the sun's beam
As some final night might fall.

Life on earth is what we can Love
With its gifts of pleasure and pain
And its creatures below and above,
Beautiful, ugly, fancy or plain.

What does it matter if we live again
When others we love go on for awhile.
And those they Love will feel sun and rain,
Remembering the deceased with a smile?