Remember

Do you remember

the first day

you were alive?

Do you remember

when

you woke up,

and wondered

why you slept

so long?

What about the pain

when you remembered

the bad dreams

you wished for

and got?

Please,

remember your grief.

Remember,

the prayers

to make it right.

Begging for light,

lurching and reeling,

grasping for the rail,

crying out for a soul,

crying for a spirit.

Remember,

forgotten self,

no pride,

just shame

and emptiness

and hunger.

Please,

remember your heart.

 

 

Now there is joy,

and power.

Invisible wings,

victory and battle,

peace and great

stillness.

Love surrounds us,

friends await us.

The long road smiles

and the sky receives us.

All is light,

we are full to bursting.

But the weeds by the road

are freshly mown.

And voices call from the thicket:

dark voices.

Please,

remember your story.

  

William E. Rushman, November 1996