The Confessions of Jacob in Death

(A lone voice whispers) 

To the ones who might have needed a bright light 

To help push back the encroaching darkness

To the ones who might have needed a friend 

To stand by their side

In the great stillness as they tried to contend with a tragic illness

And strove to build new bridges

To reach unique plateaus where they could mend

To the beautiful ones

I'll probably never see or hear from again

Old friendships

Lovers and all those bound by something so sacred between us

That was previously so metaphysical that it always appeared so endless

Just know this

You were never truly alone 

For in all my early morning dreams and late-night prayers

We still walked hand in hand through all weathers

For all those separated year's together

For you're still to me so damn precious

And when God asked me

 In this great magnificent silence

I now live within 

Now I'm free from the dark reaches of sin

In this swirling grey smoke and as I stood before him for my final confession

I just said, 

Lord

I hope they who cannot be named will forgive me

For in that old life

I was sometimes so reckless

And the Lord said, 

I forgive you, Jacob

For you were at one time just human filled with so much moving confusion

And now in here as you and I look at all your past moments in life

As they are reviewed in a new form of holy communion

You'll eventually realize it's why you sometimes had to walk through your own fire

So your soul could learn

As all those human weaknesses linked to living with temptation and sin burns

It is the same with all souls

And it's why I decreed that you be born

So you can all see the true beauty of love and feel the tragedy of heartbreak before you return

A more pure soul ready to find them once more sometime in the future

In my Silver City of no end

And again be a new lover or friend

But this time around

Purged of all confusion weaknesses and heartbreak

So love can help you all find a common ground to stand upon

For that incredible spark, you all once shared

Will into eternity always live on

Copyright John Duffy

The echoes of a voice who sometimes visits.

Salute.