Views from eternity

–– for Daunte Wright

On the day I took my rest, God’s
angels whisked my soul away
before I could feel the pain.
I opened my eyes to a fiery
chariot, ablaze in golden flames.

On the side of the chariot,
was written an inscription:

Instruments for the Living: Return to the
mountaintop, and they’ll never forget you.

Then, I heard thunder but saw no rain,
lightning but no darkness.
I heard a shout but felt no anger

And then there was silence.
And then there was peace.

I peered over the blazing chariot
to witness the sun opening before my eyes.
Inside, a crystalline mountain stood before me,
and atop the mountain stood Floyd and Taylor,
Martin and Garner, Arbery and Brown,
King and Lewis.

They reached out to pull me
up to my hollow place on the mountain,
the portal of remembrance, and they all
rejoiced in one voice, saying:

They’ll never forget you now.
And neither will he.

So when my son rests,
God sends me to him
on a fiery chariot,
ablaze in golden flames.
I cradle him in the spirit,
until I can embrace him
at the edge of eternity

Those of us who make it
to the mountaintop—where there is peace
and rest—witness the gift of immortality

We never died.
We are alive.
I am alive.

Thomas Kneeland teaches and performs poetry, is the Founder & Executive Director at The Kneeland Center for Poetry, and is the Editor-in-Chief at The Elevation Review. His third collection of poems, Stop F*cking Killing Us is an Amazon bestseller. Thomas has been published in several literary journals across the country, including Up The Staircase Quarterly, High Shelf Press, and INverse Poetry Archives, an online archive organized by Poet Laureate, Adrian Matejka.