defuncts’ day

“After this I looked, and there was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, robed in white, with palm branches in their hands.” Revelation 7:9

i open a book, and

my mother is at my side,

tracing her finger under the words;

i hear a certain song

and that college custodian

has picked up a friend’s guitar

and plays ‘Wildwood Flower;”

i see a group of folks

standing up for the voiceless,

the forgotten, the demeaned,

and there is Robert in their midst;

out of the corner of my eye,

just out of reach of my hand,

whispering to my parched soul

when i most need a drink of hope:

that multitude of souls

who are still with me

even now, ever now

© 2019 Thom M. Shuman