Death Re-engineered

Transhumanists are gathering;
They’re going to ‘solve’ mortality,
They’re equably envisaging
'Disrupting' Death’s finality.

Decay for them is just passé,
Corruption - child’s play to defeat,
Caducity soon démodé,
And trade in coffins obsolete.

It’s negligible sum senescence
Through cell replacement they pursue,
Their noble dream rejuvenescence;
Give great Saint Biotech it’s due!

It’s they who’re in the driving seat,
They’re circumventing Death’s decree;
What God ordained. A minor feat
Replacing him as referee.

The can-do Californians know
That thousand-year-old humans walk
Among us now – that here below,
Too soon, we’ll hear immortals talk

To us. And those who doubt this fact
Deserve our pity. Once transitioned
From frailty, we’ll remain intact;
Time’s wingèd chariot decommissioned.

I’m reassured I’ll live forever,
For I believe publicity
That vows I won’t from life dissever -
This saving hand saves those like me!

These Tech Messiahs laugh at doubt
And reimagine aging. They
Can boast Nick Bostrum, Kurzweil, tout
Naam, and, ironically, de Grey.

(He’s fifty one so it’s too late
For him to scorn that final sting.
Like some he’s sure to terminate,
And, therefore, charity’s his thing.

The Grail – 'Longevity Escape
Velocity' - eluded him.
He chairs METHUSELAH; the shape
Of things to come so much less grim.)

Ironic too, that surname - Kurzweil,
(He’s chief High Priest of Cybertech)
Betokens “linger just a short while.”
(He’ll upload brains to highest spec).

All vitrified in nitrogen,
Perfused with cryogen-protectants
Is how he hopes to meet his end,
And thus augment his life’s expectance.


**************************************


Far from the Valley, worlds from this,
In shanty towns like Dharavi,
Few there have heard of deathlessness
Or boons of gerontology.

For solace here they misconceive
That love alone transcends all grief;
The Messiahs know the true reprieve
Turns on a scientist’s belief.