Please Grant Me Poem by Mark Heathcote

Please grant me a peaceful sleep
like a black hawk drifting into a distant mountain range
pleased to glide out of sight on an air-thermal
conducting electricity like a silent symphony.
Please allow me one last happy dream again
before I descend like a falcon or a fallen aspen leaf
always to mulch in the shade of pain and hurt.
Please permit me something fleeting without regret
all I ask is a simple death with my head resting on your knees
with a final tear, a final laugh and an angel kiss,
before I enter the quicksand and let go of your hands
and once again, like a child, learn to stand alone.
all I ask is for you to guide me home
and make this world glow like coals in my heart
as it unleashes its last breath and lets me go.