Another Step To Heaven Poem by Charles M Moore

You wake up and you find the mists pursuing heavens gate
like barley twist they fold with fumes from your last cigarette
you rise as they caress you reaching underneath your skin
another step to heaven from the hell your living in

Lamplights from the street break in like bricks through window panes
another step to heaven watching treetops bend and sway
a heartbeat like a clubbed foot kicking deep inside your chest
persuading the last fumes to leave from your last cigarette

And glory reaches out with hands like grapnels from a gun
your eyes perceive the memories of everything youv'e done
the shadows from the temples cross your path like swords of war

another step to heaven reaches grasping you like straw

The fires of a million eyes tempt Hades to your dance

with flames that tickle prostitution down for some romance
the bells that toll in ricochets declaring from the gloom
that heaven waits to greet you and another step comes soon

With barriers of pig iron casting spears you make your way
the songs of perseverance crumble at the cross they make
the weight of souls upon you drags your feet across the earth
like the scraping of the stub you had from your last cigarette

The toil you endured upon the path you had to take
brings fear of restitution as your mind cuts through the wake
your body bends and bares the scars the gorse of time has claimed
as you reach the door to heaven and you're asked to give your name.