1) Count your days in rocks

See if they seem to multiply. The leaves that kept you company are now encased in mud,
which will become stone, which will become dust. Notice, how much dust have you (not)
cleaned?

 

2) Look at what’s not done

We human are fickle creatures and often start projects that we have no intentions of
finishing (See ‘families’ in the appendix). However, the living don’t always know this
and continue to begin and break, begin and break.

 

3) See if your style fits the time’s style

Is your tie straight? Do people still wear ties? Would you have to dye your hair? Do
people still have hair? Are your eyes the right shape? Is your skin the right shade?
Are your jeans tight enough? Do people even wear jeans? Are you a style? Answer
thoroughly.

4) Listen to songs the living sing

When the old misremember lyrics that they once heard as children, are they singing about
you? Is your life laid out in nursery rhymes or have past lovers become the blues? Do
bells that once kept time now sing only loss? This takes a very careful ear, so pay
attention.

 

5) You tell others that you’re dead

For the dead know they’re dead and most others can tell, too.