‘My Guide stretched a hand towards me
Urging me to take it.
“You want to see the truth?
What it’s like ‘the other side’?
Let me take you on a journey,
And show you what resides.

The voice was young,
Support marked with years of wear,
Yet somehow endearing, tempting;
A gateway to a world
That I’d see only once again,
Outstretched fingers not quite uncurled.

I tentatively took the invitation
Of flesh warm nor cold,
Suspended between this world and that,
A Guide for our last season,
In this world we solely know,
Conduit of our final destination’s reason.

We climbed the steps before us,
Up towards the sun,
Warmth and heat reaching out
Toasting my skin, my bones, my face,
And yet we kept climbing
Into what was becoming a furnace-like space.

‘When will we reach heaven?’
I asked, the heat now tearing at my flesh.
My guide turned towards me,
No face or skin exposed,
Protected for its journey
By the drapes in which it was clothed.

The stairs before us crumbled
My heart leapt in my chest
As a chasm appeared below me
Had I directed my own death?
My Guide’s wings spread from its back
My throat catching, searing hot breaths.

Lifting my weight as if feather
I was transported higher still,
‘Do you think it’s Heaven we have reached?
This place so hot, it scorches the flesh?
Your soul left here, writhing,
Continuous contorted ethereal thresh?

What gives you this impression?
The thoughts of fools betrayed?
Those that dictate what you should see,
Despite not having been before?
Those that decide who is wrong or right
And assign your soul to grace or flaw?’

I felt my eyes close defensively,
As the temperature roasted my inner being,
Instinctively pulling away from the source
To protect my human shell.
My Guide said ‘Open your eyes,
See laid before you true and absolute Hell.’

I cracked my lids, recoiling still,
Tears pooling in my eyes for protection
Of my frail transient human flesh,
Accustom the solar flare intrusion,
Willing myself to focus on a point,
Create an impression to solidify a conclusion.

And there before me, in harsh autumnals,
Radiated white heat, as the worshipped source
Scorched flesh and bone but never disintegrate,
Psuedo-humans plodding stairs round and round,
A never ending solar walk,
Forever blistered and scorched bound.

And if my eyes were to think to deceive me,
My remaining senses did not.
The smell of roasting fat and sinew,
Scorched, filling air with putrid clouds,
Stomach churning, dry mouth heaving
Instinctively to the burning shrouds.

I shut my eyes against the horror
‘No more!’ I tried to shout, turning into my Guide
Burying my face from the sight
A temporary respite from this heaven reversed
Wanting this nightmare to be over with now
As no reality could be this perverse.

My Guide relented holding me close,
‘Don’t worry child, you’re safe with me.
What you see before is an eternal life
For those who fritter their time
Chasing the ‘dream’, the materialistic,
Unappreciative, greed and dissatisfaction crime.

These never-ending passages,
Created by design, a relentless traverse,
Desiccated stairways, no exit or respite,
The answer to a subconscious desire,
Of a life delivered for need and want,
Gained at the detriment of others the only fire.’

‘Have you seen enough?’ came the whisper,
‘Of this after life that could be taken?’
I looked into my Guide’s part hidden face,
Eyes a-flame, sadness reflected,
Willing me to accept this as one choice,
Offered through a certain life accepted.

‘Yes’, came my answer through parched lips.
‘Yes’, came stronger, repeated for certainty.
I no longer wished to see what lay before;
A wheel of discomfort, unhappiness, solitary pain.
The choice made by many as a path of righteousness
By their own judgement, entitlement and self reign.

I felt a soft draught as her wings gave shield
And turned our direction away from this scene,
My whole surface sighing with relief and gratitude
Of the break from where we had been.
I rested in her shadow as we floated down from high
Towards depths of the earth previously unseen.

As we moved past Mother Earth’s mantle,
A coolness arrived, bringing quiet and serenity,
Like dappled fragrant trees in summertime,
A gentle breeze to soothe the mind and soul.
Temperate stone, smooth to the touch,
Interspersed with moss and grass knolls.

Wings spread again to slow our descent,
My Guide’s face lit by a strange and unseen glow,
Her hood sliding to reveal golden curls, Oceans
Passing reflections of blue and green glanced,
Serene energy immediately absorbed,
And upon her mouth a distant smile danced.

I looked around at surroundings juxtaposed
To where we had previously explored,
Drinking in the beauty presented, a colour display
Like a peacock’s tail on show without any shame
Of glorious fauna, flower, bird and stock,
Intermittent motes of cosmic rain.

Senses fully alert and engaged,
With sweet smells of honeysuckle jasmine,
The soft caress of lush grasses to fingertips
Raindrops that quench the thirst of pleasure
Wonders brought to sight in kaleidoscopic manner
Opening the heart with joy impossible to measure.

My eyes widening in search of truth,
‘And what is this?’ I asked my Guide.
Her face full of tranquillity and quiet exhilaration.
My confusion hard to explain, my mind’s eye a tangle,
‘Are we back in my lifetime,
seeing it from a different angle?’

‘No, my child,’ she said, ‘this is also after-life,
But for those who can see the good
In the life they are offered, relish the soul paths crossed,
Comprehend the precious gift in their hands,
Make the most of the ephemeral existence proffered
and the strength and power our dust understands.’

I drank in my new surroundings, likening it to ‘home’.
A home never experienced until now,
The soothing babbling of small streams, tumbling waterfalls,
Gentle echoes of calls across the valley bestowed,
An acceptance that all lived as one without the need
For competition or demand of a life owed.

A multitude of sensations in continual flow,
But not to overwhelm or agitate the mind or soul,
Just the right amount to be in full knowing
That this was my place to be, my nirvana,
where I’d want my final resting place to be,
All my favourite parts of life now, but calmer.

‘And this could be for me?’ I asked.
‘This is here for you, when it’s your time.
As soon as your soul has written its last chapter
And your story is complete, your resting place
Of stillness that your heart craves
Waits for you, eternally ready to embrace.’

We both let our eyes delight in the views before us,
Saying little more as nothing more was needed.
Hand in hand, suspended by chitinous wings,
As I closed my eyes I knew, as did she, my decision.
To be true to myself, my soul and heart,
And live life to ensure my deserved and earned ‘Heaven’.’