An Angel Came To Me.......

Amid the summer leaves and trees
I found a tire swing, swaying back and forth
In the lazy summer breeze, it seemed to be calling me
But as I approached I saw there, a picnic blanket
Spread out neatly on the ground
But as I looked, there was no one else around
So I just took a guess, I slowly sat right down
A sudden burst of bright sunlight
And I found myself surrounded
By people I'd never met or even seen
I stood up and spoke "What the hell is going on?"
A child walked right up to me and took me by the hand
He spoke softly, "Soon you'll understand."
Something inside me, seemed to settle down
And my state of disbelief, became much less profound
I became filled with a wave of curiosity
Taking notice of the others around
I asked the child "Are you all from another town?"
No, he said, "we're from another time"
We're here to show you your life
We're to help you see, that your self hatred
Has no business in this town
and as we worked our way through the crowd
I spied the tree where we had just come from
We found the picnic blanket
And he just sat me down again
He bent down and whispered in my ear
"Don't worry friend, please don't hate yourself"
Then in another burst of light
The child and all the people, were gone
And laying in my lap
Was the woman that I loved
She had a gun dangling from her hand
I began to understand
This tree, the tire swing, this place
It was where we had gotten married
And now that she was gone
An angel had come to rescue me
To help me through this unbearable hate
The hate of self destruction
The fact that I blamed myself
Would not help me into heaven
So I gently lifted her and carried her
Toward the screaming sirens
And as I was walking away
I looked back toward the tree, with our swing
And there he sat swinging and singing softly
The angel that had comforted me
And restored my faith in heaven...........

Tony Taylor (Chicago)