Fabled Secrets

Come close and whisper in my ear
The fabled secrets of the after-life
I've always wondered where I would go
Up or down or simply in the ground
Is Heaven really the paradise
That we are all led to believe
Is Hell fire and fear
Do Heaven and Hell even exist
Or are they figments of our imaginations
Things we made up because
We are so afraid of death
That we have to glorify the end
Which is exactly what death is
It's the end of life
Maybe Heaven and Hell are real
If so does that mean the ritual of burial
Is a sign of going to Hell
But then cremation too must be a sign
Of descending towards the fires of Hell
So maybe Heaven is life and death is Hell
Perhaps only Hell exists
And is both life and death
And what about the Devil
Another fictional character created
To scare children and sinners alike
Or maybe he is a mascot for our fears
Everything we are afraid of
We blame on the Devil
Maybe the fabled secrets are
The truths we don't want to face
Maybe we make our own Heaven
And we create our own Hell
And when we die it's simply
The end with no second chances
We've written our stories
And death means we are done
That life is over and it's the end.