"What is heaven like?"

Every now and then, there is something that deserves to be on this blog, even though it has nothing to do with hearing loss. This is one of those. It is perhaps, the best poem I have ever written. It has the potential to affect all who read it - not just the select few - and is likely to do so. Warning: You may need some tissues...

                 ~

"What is heaven like?"
Asked the little girl, lying in her bed
She's thinking of a book
That, with her family, she read

"What is heaven like?"
She calls her dad to her side
He looks down at the floor
There's nothing more he can try

"What is heaven like?"
She asks her mother by the window
But the answer is lost in sobs
A mother's eyes full of sorrow

"What is heaven like?"
She whispers to her little baby brother
He is happy in her arms
But for a friend, he must find another

"What is heaven like?"
She asks the nurse who checks her progress
He pretends he didn't hear
Afraid to say that she's regressed

"What is heaven like?"
She mutters as the doctor rushes in
He quickly increases dosage
In the hope the pain will dim

"What is heaven like?"
She ponders as she accepts her fate
Soon she'll leave it all behind
But can only lay and wait

"What is heaven like?"
She asks, with no trace of tears
Her eyes, full of light
Show a knowledge beyond her years

"What is heaven like?"
She wonders as her strength begins to fade
Her arms are open, inviting death
To pass on, she's not afraid

"What is heaven like?"
She whispers, as she drifts off to sleep
Her family wishes her Good Night
And to forever have Sweet Dreams

"What is heaven like?"
She asks when she again opens her eyes
There's a man she could not see before
He is standing at her bedside

"What is heaven like?"
Her pleading eyes implore
He's wearing robes of white
With a hand extended to her

"What is heaven like?"
She wonders as she sits up to leave
Accepting his hand to follow
While her family behind her grieves

"What is heaven like?"
She asks as they sit on a park bench
She has never seen this place
His hand she won't unclench

"What is heaven like?"
She insists, as the man sits as ease
She's sure they've met before
But the memory she can't retrieve

"What is heaven like?"
He prompts her, with a smile on his face
"What do you think it is like, my dear?
How is it different, that place?"

"What is heaven like?"
She ponders, the question turned to her
Her thoughts mill around
As she begins to form an answer

"What is heaven like?"
She states aloud, sorting through her thoughts
Beginning to realize that all along
She's had the answers that she sought

"What is heaven like?"
She says again, merely out of habit
"It's a place without fighting
Where a cat won't harm a rabbit.

In heaven, everything is pretty
All around you there are flowers
In heaven, I can walk again
My body filled with power

In heaven, the world is at peace
People are always kind
In heaven, hair on my head
I would once again find

In heaven, I'll be with my family
Those dearest to my heart
In heaven, they'll always be beside me
Never e'er to part

In heaven, I'll see God
and by his side, I'll see His Son
In heaven, with them I will live
In the brightness of the sun

"What is heaven like?"
She says again, now just for good measure
"It's a paradise you could never replace
A great and wondrous treasure."

"What is heaven like?"
She repeats, a smile on her face
"Lead the way, and soon I'll know
Your footsteps I will trace"

"What is heaven like?"
He says to her, "The answer you've always known
And I will surely take you there
In light of the faith you've shown.

Through your trials, I heard you cry
I was at your side as you bled
You tried to live your life as I
From the pain you never fled

Firmly on my path you've stood
Living a life that is kind
Trying to do as you should
Rest in heaven, you will find."

"What is heaven like?"
Her heart knows the answer
She takes His hand and walks with Him
For the gates soon loom before her

"I know what heaven is like."
She declares as she walks by her guide
The tears stream down her face
As he leads her gently inside.

<3