A work in continual progress — come back soon ... and refresh your browser. Jump to most recent microstory and haiku.

In celebration of my upcoming 80th birthday, I'm launching this curated collection of microstories (50-word prose poems) and haiku quintets that touch on the subject of death, some of which are shared on my (free) substack and published as books. This collection may take its place among those titles in due time.

For context: I am a fundamentally happy person. I enjoy living. I have friends and family who enrich my journey. Sharing home-life with my wife and best friend in our comfy perch overlooking Sarasota Bay is a daily joy. Belonging by accident of birth to a privileged demographic, I have received advantages unavailable to fate's unfortunates and faultless victims, for whose suffering I mourn.

Born in 1945 and living long enough to witness the apparent collapse of democracy in my homeland, my lifespan may be rightly called humanity's Golden Age. No previous era in human history has offered such manna, even to royal elites. I am in reasonably good health — barring some unforeseen accident or diagnosis, I'll linger several more years. My life is good, for which I am deeply grateful.

So, you ask, why this existential fascination with death? Reflecting on the conclusion of one's life with full awareness is a feature of the secular cosmological perspective that I strive to achieve. In these early centuries of scientific discovery, I sigh in awe of my insignificantly miniscule, yet unique, moment of consciousness in the infinite, yet-to-be-fully-understood universe. What a privilege!

This collection contains an accretion of selected minimalist poetic pieces that offer glimpses under death's kilt, where many dare not look. Topics include end-of-life-choice, antinatalism, faithlessness, and secular humanism as a worldview. Browse boldly. Let your mind wander. Follow it there. Repeat.

Selections are largely unordered. As new bits accrue, they are placed at the top of this list for the convenience of repeat visitors who may stop in occasionally for a fresh nibble. My age-mates may find these small poetic bites of particular resonance. Feel free to share this link with others.

My Death Collection, to be published in 2026, is dedicated to "My survivors, to help you understand, and to my fellow mortals, to help you think about your own end-of-life with eyes wide open"

Microstories — These drafts have been significantly revised and included in Microstories: When 50 Words is Enough at Amazon (e-book, audiobook). Please view finished works there.

109. Living by Default ~ Rational choice be damned in Dan's voice

105. Live Now ~ Love in Dan's voice

095. 400 Forefathers ~ If just one had listened ~ in Dan's voice

094. Did Daddy Worry? ~ I wonder ~ in Dan's voice

093. Christmas Truce 1914 ~ It has not held ~ in Dan's voice

088. Wall of Death ~ I wait for relief ~ in Dan's voice

079. Glad I'm Not Young ~ At final decade's doorstep ~ in Dan's voice

078. Reason's Choice ~ I'll patientlly wait ~ in Dan's voice

077. Wordless ~ At Auschwitz ~ in Dan's voice

075. Impermanence ~ My life's chalk mark ~ in Dan's voice

074. Tracks ~ To our unknown ends ~ in Dan's voice

072. Moral Cul-de-Sac ~ An impossible choice ~ in Dan's voice

070. Wall Decorations ~ If I choose to survive her ~ in Dan's voice

068. North Star ~ I am there~ in Dan's voice

067. Recurring Dream ~ Can't wait another thirty years ~ in Dan's voice

064. Our Warm Sea ~ Until the water's edge ~ in Dan's voice

062. Peace ~ Let it be ~ in Dan's voice

060. Uncertainties ~ Carry on living this good life ~ in Dan's voice

059. Danny's Decision ~ A free-thinking choice ~ in Dan's voice

058. A Writer's Final Plea ~ That's all I ask. ~ in Dan's voice

056. A Bid for Remembrance ~ Is this the one? ~ in Dan's voice

052. A Life Story ~ Finding my footing ~ in Dan's voice

051. I Write ~ Speaking from the grave ~ in Dan's voice (Preface to Microstories, coming 2026)

045. Return to Oblivion ~ Thank you ~ in Dan's voice

036. Socrates ~ I am his son ~ in Dan's voice

035. Imbalance ~ God's original sin ~ in Dan's voice

029. Duty to Live ~ To none but me? ~ in Dan's voice

017. I Want My Mom ~ At eighty ~ in Dan's voice

011. Getting Better at Getting Old ~ Less not more ~ in Dan's voice

006. My Dad at 150 ~ When I reach your age ~ in Dan's voice

005. But First, My Mom ~ I sip from your depth ~ in Dan's voice

Haiku Quintets

471. Control ~ Along for the ride, watching scenery

464. Cruise to Nowhere ~ How far to home port?

463. Antique ~ Self's sovereign subject

462. Last Times ~ Will I want to know?

458. A Completed Life ~ My ticket to ride

457. That I Might Be Known By You ~ In maturity

456. The Patriarch ~ My turn is coming

455. What Can I Do? ~ As democracy sinks

452. What's That Word? ~ I can't recall

451. Crossing ~ From here, I can see

445. Terra Octo ~ Stay on watch

441. Window of Opportunity ~ Won't stay open forever

440. Center Mast ~ I'm in life with you

439. The Trade ~ No one shall usurp my choice

437. I Am a Bee ~ A conveyance across time and space

434. Tom ~ 1936-2025

431. What Matters? ~ On the human scale

424. Why I Write What I Write ~ Why this and not that?

421. Pain and the Food Chain ~ Is pleasure worth the pain?

420. Legacy ~ To none greater dare I aspire

416. How Do I Love Thee? ~ How can I love Thee?

413. My Obituary ~ An early draft

411. Being Dead ~ Nothing to fear

408. Slippery Slope ~ How did your mind work?

405. How Is Life Good? ~ Tell me again

403. The Right Side of History ~ When it is written

402. Lucky Life ~ 1945 - 2025

401. Memory ~ As long as I can

396. This Side of the Glass ~ I watch the world's horrors

395. With Eyes Wide Open ~ Preface: Love, Death, and Humanism: Practical Philosopohy in Verse

392. How Do You Not Ask? ~ The inescapable question

377. My Sell-by Date ~ Memory's slippery slope

370. My Deathbed ~ I will die in this bed

351. The Most Moral Choice ~ Antinatalism

335. Glidepath ~ The ground is rising

329. Struthof ~ Nazi concentration camp

321. My Relief Generation ~ Dedication to A Life Mostly Lived

312. A Father's Day Regret ~ I will never know

274. A Decision Deferred ~ Life-snippet: Freshman year at University of Missouri-Columbia, 1963-64

272. My Dad's Afterlife ~ Life-snippet: My dad's death and its consequences, 22 April 1955 to present

228. I Forgot to Ask ~ ... before it was too late

224. My Bucket List ~ Scratched off

220. Misplaced Grief ~ I'm not the one who will grieve my death

216. Five Seconds Left to Live ~ Is this how I die?

196. What's That Word? ~ On the tip of your tongue

195. In Your Hands Now ~ Take this worn baton

178. Voice of a Nulled Child ~ A billion years of suffering averted

169. You are my afterlife ~ My stuff will go on, and on, and on ...

166. Final Moments ~ So, this is how it ends.

160. The Crime of Killing Time ~ I sip slowly now

123. My Race Against Time ~ Will I finish this before fate intervenes?

115. Tet 1968 ~ Life-snippet: Cu Chi Vietnam, January 31, 1968

100. Jim's Last Gift ~ He illuminated the road ahead

74. We Are Accidental People ~ If a different sperm had reached the egg, what of human history?

70. Life Is a Movie ~ View from the peanut gallery

67. Mack's Vision ~ When visions diverge

61. Thin Silver Lining ~ End of young life may not be all bad.

55. First God ~ Grandaddy Deity

45. Chicxulub Asteroid Impact ~ Our lucky day?

35. On Antinatalism ~ Is life good? I mean, really, is life good?

29. Richard Died Today ~ Our friend is with us no more

9. On Dying ~ A lucky atheist's approach to death, dying, and choice

(More will be added from the archives soon)

All content © 2020 by Dan Dana