A land more kind than home,
I exchange for a cold nowhere.
There is danger at the border.
And I haven’t got a prayer.
I sense thunder in the distance,
to the cliff, I must draw near.
My back is to the edge;
eyes wide in watchful fear.
The final truth, I seek,
taking secrets to the grave.
The priest must stand alone.
My confession, to him, I gave.
The gods of guilt are here
from the City of Countless Lies.
My tortured soul seeks shelter.
Death takes me by surprise.
A cry, I hear so close
from my lips of icy dread.
I am lost to all of earth
and must walk among the dead.
On cursed ground, I stand.
No proof of life, I see.
The innocent all lie sleeping.
I have met my enemy.
Oh mirror to my soul,
I request respite tonight.
I’ve been down the darkest road.
Pray, lead me towards the light.
Written by,
Shelby I. Courtland
©2015 Shelby I. Courtland
shelbycourtland 
Very moving, Shelby. “Death takes me by surprise” What a thought and it probably will.
Leslie
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It quite actually would be nice if death took us all by surprise instead of the long, drawn out painful death that is experienced by so many.
Thank you Leslie! I appreciate the comment.
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According to the statistics, people who eat right and keep fit have a 50-50 chance of dying in their sleep (ie without long drawn out illness).
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Well, Dr. Bramhall, you are ever the optimistic one. But you know that most Americans are not eating right nor are they keeping fit. We’ve even got an obesity epidemic among children. And since technology is always knocking at our door, we cannot look up from the latest iPhone to come down the pike. It is so bad, there is another diagnosis in town. It’s called, ‘text neck’. So, I think our odds just changed in favor of a slow, lingering, agonizing demise. But I sincerely appreciate you trying to keep us up to speed on how we can better our chances of ‘sticking our spoon in the wall’ with a nice, calm peaceful look on our face.
And as always, I thank you for your comment!
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My father died in typical Native American style — he woke up that morning and said to himself “This is a good day to die” and when the nurse took him into the bathroom to shower he slumped to the floor and escaped this ‘veil of tears’. That’s the way I want to go when my time comes …
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I hear you Wolfess! I don’t want some long, drawn out agonizing shit to go through. I’ve attended so many funerals of family members and only one died in her sleep, the others were so fucked up, they were barely recognizable. It is a goddamn shame what people are made to endure before they breathe their last. We should have come further than we are in regards to medical advancements, but it would seem that those who decide what’s what want people to suffer untold agonies and they add to them by giving extremely sick patients, additional horrifying shit that only makes matters worse.
I am so glad that your dad did not suffer. Mine was almost unrecognizable when he died. Have mercy! I can only hope that that’s not what I’m headed for.
Thank you for your comment!
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