Afterlives

April 21, 2015 by alltheirvoices Leave a comment

Who will it be when they come to take me,
When at last my flesh grows cold?


Will I see the face of the Messenger,
long my friend, from times of old?
Will I walk that last road with him,
When I breathe that final breath?
Will I descend to gray existence,
When I travel after death?


Or will I find the Sailing Trickster,
with his wave-borne ship at dock?
Will he take me to the Blest Isles,
when my life runs down its clock?
Will I dwell in lands undying,
Where apple trees both fruit and bloom?
Will I be welcomed by the Ever-Young,
While my body sleeps in tomb?


Or will the two-faced Queen send someone
to bear my soul down to her home?
Will she take my shade in keeping,
While my flesh slumbers under loam?
Will I sit in Her great hall, then,
And dine, and sing, and speak, and rest?
Will I know the joys of living,
If I’ve passed her final test?


Who will claim me, when I die, then,
Who will greet me, bear me away?
Who will come when my heart beats its last,
On that far-flung, final day?

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