Dying, everyone does it, even the animals and the plants do it- from Rumi

I lived for thousands and thousands of years as a mineral, the then I died and became a plant
I lived for thousands and thousands of years as a plant and then I died and became an animal
I lived for thousands and thousands of years as an animal and then I died and became a human being
Tell me, what have I ever lost by dying?
 

 

-end of Rumi Poem, title of Robert Bye’s book What Have I Ever Lost by Dying. This is from a fine interview of Robert and Ruth Bly in the September/October, 2011, of The American Poetry Review, by Chard deNiord. PP. 7-15