Hereafter Poem by Laurence Overmire

How could heaven be

More spectacular than a sunset
Draping its scarlet mantle over a ridge of snow-crested mountains

More beautiful than a waterfall
Plunging through the branch of lush green forest

More serene than a glassy lake
Reflecting the first golden embers of the morning sky?

We need not die
To apprehend the bounds of heaven.

This miracle Earth:
All we need do is open our eyes.


(Previously published in The Gentle Survivalist, Sept.1999; Irish Stew, Summer Issue 2007)