Ten commandments, an eightfold path,
I just can’t live up to all that math.
Just twenty-four hours in one day,
I don’t have the time to fully obey.
I do believe I’ll go somewhere later,
But must I choose my path with a calculator?
For those with a more agnostic view,
The number comes down to simply two
—maybe there is, and maybe there isn’t.
That’s an ‘OK’ plan, for a betting man.
For the nonbeliever the number is zero,
There’s nothing out there, be your own hero.
Still, when I gaze at stars or a new sunrise I say to myself,
‘It does all seem so wonderfully wise’.
The answer of course may simply be—one life, lived infinitely.
But I know deep inside I won’t reach a conclusion,
I love the mystery, not resolution.
So with all due respect to sages and their thunder,
I’ll find my own way without picking a number.