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And if there is - beyond, within, above,
outside, endless, timeless, hovering somewhere
that realm of sweet reunions, everlasting love,
then surely I should hope that one day, there,
(if 'there' exists and though no-one can prove
the yea or nay, no human is aware)
though undeserving, I may, through some grace
pass into that place that somehow is no place.

And yet - and when these whirling thoughts are here,
and wander in a tired and wakeful mind,
there is something that's akin to fear,
of all that's earthly that, forever left behind,
I'd mourn and miss, because I hold it dear,
no matter what eternal bliss I'd find.
I want my books, my chessboard, and my cat,
and if it's trivial, then I just can't help that!

I want to laugh at jokes and TV shows,
I want to eat ice-cream, drink coffee, play
a hand of cards, such little things as those,
I want to go on holiday, I want to stay
by the sea, and where wild lilac grows,
I do not want an endless, faultless day
transformed into some spirit without form
and on another plane reworked, reborn.

this actually makes a whole lots of sense with the topic. especially with ryhmes

Nice one

Another excellent effort Lassie. I like the premise of your poem and have in fact used it myself (the idea of what an individual's idea of Heaven would be) in one of my own poems. I don't know if you've ever seen it. I remember sending you a couple of my writings when we first met here but I don't remember which ones they were. See if you can find my poem, Returning To The Playground ... that's the one I'm talking about.

I remember an old Twilight Zone TV story about a country man who has died but doesn't know it. He is walking down a country path and someone tries to get him to enter through a fence but his dog, who is walking beside him, is not allowed to enter. The man refuses to part with his dog (like your poem, he refuses to part with what he loves on earth) so doesn't go in. He continues down the path and comes to another person who asks him to enter a gate and the dog is also allowed in. He chooses that gate which is Heaven, the other place was Hell. They didn't allow dogs to enter the gate of Hell because they would sense the evil there and refuse to enter anyway thus warning their masters to run away immediately. The story sounds stupid but it was actually quite good when presented on TV.

Nice poem (as usual) and thanks for sharing!

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Thanks, DATo, and I will certainly look up that poem - you and I often seem to be on the same wavelength. Like the sound of the Twilight Zon episode, too!

Yes, although the blob of light joining a sea of light (Huxley, I think) is perhaps the most plausible form an afterlife might take, I'm not sure that it's appealing or meaningful if we are not ourselves and with the people and places we love. I guess that's why Lewis's view of Heaven, as expressed in The Last Battle is so appealing (to me, anyway). I just can't find it in my heart to believe in it. Loved the exploration, though.

I have never read a poem like this but it really got to me. Excellent poem!

God, I loved this. The idea of pure, everlasting love is one that has been knocking about in my head for the last while. Hmmm...