53 Poem by Bill Upton
53
A man's soul should not be decided on his deathbed
When a life-locked near-cadaver lies in despair
Except for an utterance of the inevitable final cry
For a life's worth of forgiveness.
Can the words, 'I accept you as my Lord and Savior'
Be enough on salvation's resume,
Or is it too late for a death row
Governor's midnight reprieve?
Even more, we should be concerned if there is grace for us
Who, when given chances time and time again,
Failed to look for the prodigal,
Derelict in our duty to break from the 99
To salvage the one that is lost.
We are the ones who are remiss
In following commands.
We are the Pontius Pilates who washed our hands
Now covered with resurrection blood.
God is loving and merciful.
He knows our hearts better than we know them.
In His grace may He take the departed to be with Him
To finally learn of His ways,
And may He show ample Grace to cleanse the blood stain
From our own hands
That now appears crimson indelible.
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
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4/23/2024 2:37:38 AM # 1.0.0.1119
This terse commentary makes my head spin... I love it! Laden with biblical allusion, but in a very fresh way. Perhaps the most captivating line, is it too late for a Governor's reprieve? At first, I passed by it literally, but upon reflection, I think it is a dying man's cry out to God. Just as with a real governor's pardon, the gallows are allayed, but death is only temporarily put off. It is at the point of such lows that saints are made, as in the case of Martin Luther. Referencing Jesus as merely the prodigal, is so subtle and smart. Just as is near-cadaver for the man dying of old age like a slow burning candle. It is shocking that you proclaim salvation needs a resume. At first, seeming blasphemous (at least in terms of calvinism, that the grace of the Holy Spirit is not irresistible): it is in fact a novel way of suggesting our own vying for our souls. We crave some tangible assurance. Some indulgence on a slip of paper that says indeed, we are saved.