THOSE LEFT STRANDED

THOSE LEFT STRANDED

Here's a rhyme for those left stranded,
For those adrift and landed,
Floating in lifeboats on a stormy ocean,
Here's a prayer for a spell and a potion,
To ease the passage from life to death,
The voyage begins and ends with a breath.
Here's a prayer to set them free,
To carry them to the other side.
Let their packing be light and their burden be soft,
That they may fly freely, carried aloft.
That their suffering and their struggles cease,
That their souls be granted peace.

Here's a few words for the lost,
Who live and breathe at quite a cost.
Whose existence depends on the kindness of machines.
Here's to those who linger unseen,
And know not yet how to depart.
May God's mercy land on their delicate hearts,
And guide them safely across the bar,
That divides us near and far.
The bridge we all must dare to cross,
In the midst of our sorrow, in the midst of our loss.
Let our tears be washed away,
In the dawning of a brand new day.

Here is a rhyme for those going under,
Prisoner to each little blithesome blunder.
The mistakes and failures that rise to the rafters,
That tarnish our ever afters.
That fill up the spirit with consummate gloom,
Lead us all to that great Upper Room,
Carry us safely through the clouds,
Our bodies wrapped in the burial shroud.
But let untarnished spirit soar,
Both now and evermore.

Bang the drum and sound the warning,
That if I should be gone by morning,
No one should weep but just carry on,
Whatever work I leave behind,
The words that outlive me in the dawn.
Then lay me to rest in field or stream,
This life was merely a bitter dream,
A strange and twisted avocation.
Leave it where my body lies,
Point me to the substation,
That leads me to the skies.

Here's a song and a benediction,
For those adrift and landed.
A long and solemn farewell taps,
For all of those left stranded.
Here's a prayer for a peaceful death,
The voyage begins and ends with a breath.
May all these old sad sufferings cease,
And may your souls be granted peace.

-Bruce Potts
Revised Copyright 2015
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED