I Hope Death Is Like...

When the day comes

that death knocks on my door

I hope that I am greeted

like meeting a long lost friend

who embraces me

and tells me how much I have been missed

by those who made my life

my home.

_

I hope that He leads me

away from the heat

of this hell we live in

and it feels like sprays of water

from the garden hose

on a hot summer day

and I hear my dad,

laughing,

chasing me down to soak me.

-

I hope that he lays me down

in grass so soft

it feels like a sweater

I tried on once

pink with cabled bunnies

knit by the loving hands

of my great grandmother

who always slipped me

pastel colored butter mints

with a blue eyed wink.

-

I hope that he tucks me in

with tender loving hands

that promise I will sleep

like a well cocooned butterfly

while the wind blows in

serenades of my mother's lullaby

peace on earth

from one tin solider

-

I hope that as my soul departs

and leaves my body in the ground

to nourish the earth

with my bones

that death

feels like finally

coming home.