The Box Men

              The breeze was pleasant .. He remembered he wanted to remain
              on the rope. Whether it was above him or around his neck did not
              seem to matter. It seemed to stretch on forever. A million yards
              or years he climbed up from a pit of everlasting silence. Ah, the
              breeze was pleasant.



    "The Second Coming?" a crow called out from the twisted tree.
    His mother reached out her hand. She was as young as if he was
    in his boyhood. "Do you know me? Can you hear your mother?"
    she asked and held him in her arms at the foot of the tree.
    "They are coming to bury you. I will not let them." she whispered
    as she kissed his forehead and removed the rope about his neck.

                   
                  "To see a World in a grain of sand,
                  And a Heaven in a flower,
                  Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand
                  And Eternity in an hour."
                  (Auguries of Innocence; Blake)


          He rose. He stood and walked. His mother had died many years ago.
          He was aware. The box men looked about the tree. There was no body
          for them. Had it been stolen? Why? They argued and relented, returning
          to their office. "Some hanged man's gone missing." they reported.
          It was ruled a theft and dismissed.


          "For seven days the great star shall be seen.
            As if two Suns in the sky should appear.
            Stone, Heaven, Fire, shall fall over the sea."
            (Nostradamus; quatrains 75:22-24)

  He found his way back to Rome. His steps were heavy his heart burned.
  "This fruit is scorched by that same heat which warms my heart with
  every beat." His wife had prepared a meal for him. He was home.


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