The Other Side

I may not last all evening

Or enjoy the daylight’s end –

I may not lead battalions

Into battle, or defend.

--

I may not swim the ocean’s tide

Or find the shore before I go,

Please keep your smile close at hand

And enjoy my afterglow.

--

I may not always like your words

How you walk or what you feel,

But always think of me as ‘friend’,

The kind you can’t repeal.

--

I may, at times, offend you

Without knowing it, so please

Forgive me. I mean you no harm,

Share my wind, my breeze.

--

I may not always laugh at jokes

Or smile when I should,

But know I ‘travel’ with you –

I’d laugh more if I could.

--

It’s just that behind my facade

Someone struggles to survive.

For your sake, and for mine as well,

I know now’s not my time.

--

My time is here to defend

And cuddle, yes, to hold

The huddled few I always knew

I’d welcome to my fold.

--

Go, gratefully, beyond that path,

Lead me to the other side –

A cavalcade that time surpassed

Even though the few deride.

--

What’s the other side look like to you,

Is it a blackened hole of dark?

Is it summer’s answer to sublime –

In sunshine – there you are!

--

I may not see the morning,

My last breath will be night.

If I see you on the other side

I’ll smile, with delight.