If it was my last hour on earth

If it was my last hour on earth, I’d probably spend it making a work of art. I can’t say for sure, because there would be family members to kiss goodbye, and dogs to feed. 

But at some stage, even for a minute, I’d have to give back to art what it’s given me all these years.

If it was my last day on earth, I’d definitely take a walk in the park. The last time I did that, I noticed a familiar moment of beginning, with everything around. Something new came out of behaviour that was very old. 

People greeted each other politely, while their dogs sniffed one another, as though it was all the start of something great. And then they simply moved on.

It’s funny, they said hello but they did not say goodbye. My mother used to say something about it. In times of trouble she would say that, ‘Life is not just a walk in the park.’

That was supposed to give you an expectation, that would prepare you for hard times. There was a belief that knowing was the same as growing, to use a cliché. 

So I think that’s how I would end life, to teach it a lesson. In the end I would actually take a walk in the park.