The Bridge Beyond

I stood amid gently swirling clouds
Laced with golden thread
High up on a mountainside
Does my path end here? Do I walk ahead?

I look to my feet and to my surprise
Spans a delicate bridge of the purest gems
Floating in a soft blue celestial sky
Pillars slender as flower stems

Dancing lights lead my feet
Across the Great Divide
Into an ethereal world, a spirit land
Where only peace and joy do bide

Faces appear within a mist
Ancient, kind, and wise
'Who are you folk who greet me here?
Please, journey at my side.'

Silver mountains rise in majestic heights
A shimmering city resting at their feet
Rolling hills of emerald green
A crystal pathway, straight and neat

Trees laden with fruit free to any hand
Who cares to taste the treasures
Of this lovely land I cannot describe
The freedom, the bliss, the pleasures

The city's Golden Gates awaited us
But alas! They would not open
I bemoaned my fate, teardrops fell
Am I within a dream? Will I soon be awoken?

My companions stood beside me
And a voice was heard to say
'It is not your time, please understand,
you still have work for many a day'

And so I return from beyond the bridge
To find my family seated
Around me in a happy throng
So sure that death I must have cheated!