I had come home late after a long weekend of
drinking and wondering the streets.  The house was dark.
I looked in on you and you were in bed
so I went to bed as well.  Deep in a dream
I could hear the phone ringing on the end table.
I didn’t remember there being a phone on
the end table.  But there was, and it was ringing.
With my eyes still shut, I felt around until
I found the phone and put it to my ear:
“Robby… Robby, is that you?” you asked,
in a quick, hushed voice.  You sounded far away.
“Robby, help me,” you whispered into the phone.
I could hear the fear and desperation
in your voice.  I was confused and scared,
I asked you where you were and you said that
you didn’t know.  You started to cry.
I told you to look around you and tell me
what you saw.  You said that it was dark and
you couldn’t see anything.  I didn’t
understand.  I thought to ask you whose phone
you were using, but you cut me off, and,
all of these years later, I can still hear
you say, “I’m so cold…” as your voice fades away.
When I awoke it was still dark outside and
as I walked down the hall to check on you
again, I knew.  Your room was pitch black, and I
was afraid to turn on the light because I knew
that you were there, in the dark, and I didn’t want
you to go. I walked over to your bedside and
gently touched your face.  It was cold.  You’d been
gone for hours, but were still there.  Did you not know
that you’d passed?  Were you waiting for me
to come home? Did you lose your way?  Or,
is that really all that awaits us?  I’ve heard
others talk of heaven, hell, bright lights and judgment;
of warmth and weightlessness and hovering above
your body as your entire life replays
itself before you; of deceased loved ones,
gathered around, telling you to go back,
that there’s still work to be done amongst the living.
I hope that these things prove true, for them,
but for me, I know in  my heart that when I die
it’s going to be dark and it’s going to be
cold.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR.  Robert McCracken is a gifted poet, and although we don’t hear from him often, I always look forward to posting his work.

Robert can be reached at:
Smart Communications/PADOC
Robert McCracken LG8344
Sci-Greene
P.O. Box 33028
St. Petersburg, FL 33733