That's The Pity Of It All... Poem by Denis Martindale

The old man had come to the end of his long life and accepted his final day without any fight at all. He didn't bargain with God for a few years more or time to get his affairs in order. He hadn't even bothered to make a will, so everything was in disarray for his loved ones to complain about later. His last breath came and went and his spirit ascended to face the judgement. There was no turning back, no second chance to put things right. The planet Earth went on its course as before and he stared at the void of space all around him. Suddenly he was moving incredibly fast and the stars became a silver blur. Just as suddenly the stars appeared yet in so many different positions. Before him, was a giant screen and he saw the video film playback start with his time in his mother's womb, then on to his birth and on to his days at school. Then came the silly choices he had made, the sins, the catalogue of catastrophes such as accidents and diseases. Then the half-hearted romances, his marriage and his affairs. Then came the time he fought in the war and killed so many.

When he saw his life's story unfold, he accepted the judgement would be Hell instead of Heaven. And that was proclaimed to him without a trace of forgiveness. So when he arrived in Hell, he wasn't exactly singing any hallelujahs. He looked around him at the darkness of Hell. The burning stench that came to him overcame him and he fell to the ground he was standing on. And there it was that when he was on his knees he saw a note. When he read the words he realised that these were a prayer for forgiveness. So with nothing to lose, he spoke those words and was suddenly escorted up to Heaven by two angels.

‘Why did I have to go to Hell when I could have been offered that note earlier? ' he asked.

Both angels smiled at his question and then they told him,

‘For you, there was no other way. It took faith to believe in forgiveness and not everyone in Hell decides to pray that prayer. That's the pity of it all…'


Denis Martindale. August 2020.