Please, remember[1]“Remember,” according to Spencer W. Kimball, is the most important word in the English language–or any language, presumably. me, happily,
By the rosebush laughing
With bruises on my chin, the time when
We counted every car passing
Your house beneath the hill and up until
Someone caught us in the kitchen
With maps, a mountain range, a piggy bank
A vision too removed to mention[2]The narrator here is striving to recall visions from his childhood, so as to become like unto a child again himself, for of such is the kingdom of Heaven; but he can only do that if he remembers how … Continue reading
But, please remember me
Please, remember me
Fondly, I heard from someone you’re still pretty[3]A line that only gets more devastating the older you get.
And then they went on to say that the Pearly Gates
Had some eloquent graffiti
Like “we will meet again”[4]“God Be With You Till We Meet Again” is Hymn #152 in the now defunct green hymnal, soon to be as forgotten as completely as the blue hymnal of our parents and grandparents; how quickly we … Continue reading
And “tell my mother not to worry”
“The angels with their great handshakes[5]In the Holy Temple, we are instructed in the signs and tokens and hand-clasps that will allow us to pass by the angels that stand as sentinels, and re-enter the Kingdom of our Heavenly Father.
Were always done in such a hurry”
Please, remember me, at Halloween[6]Halloween, as we’ve published before, is the one season a year in Anglo-centric culture when we allow ourselves to treat the dead as our friends (as indeed, per the Spirit of Elijah, we should have … Continue reading
Making fools of all the neighbors
Our faces painted white, by midnight
We’d forgotten one another
And when the morning came, I was ashamed
Only now it seems so silly
The season left the world[7]If I might be so bold, it’s not the Christmas season we should be carrying with us all year round, but the Halloween one: that is, we should be inhabited by the Spirit of Elijah that makes us … Continue reading and then returned
And now you’re lit up by the city
So please remember me
Please, remember me, as in a dream[8]“Our lives passed away like as it were unto us a dream.” -Jacob 7:26
We had as rugged as babies
Among the fallen trees and fast asleep
Aside the lions[9]…”the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them…” -Isaiah 11:6; 2 Nephi 21:6 and the ladies
That called you what you like and even might
Give a gift for your behavior
A fleeting chance to see a trapeze
Swing as high as any savior[10]Christ, who descended below all things, to ascend above all things–he swung low (“Swing low, sweet chariot” is a song I sincerely wish had made its way into the new hymnal), to … Continue reading
Please remember me, finally
And all my uphill crawling
My dear, but if I make the Pearly Gates
Do my best to make a drawing
Of God and Lucifer[11]Another set of estranged brothers, after all–and some days I suspect that God wants to redeem even Satan himself in the end., a boy and girl
An angel kissin’ on a sinner[12]As the angels kiss us (for we are all sinners), so we should also be kissing each other, in forgiveness, mercy, and love.
A monkey and a man, a marching band
All around the frightened trapeze
All around the frightened trapeze swinger
References
| ↑1 | “Remember,” according to Spencer W. Kimball, is the most important word in the English language–or any language, presumably. |
|---|---|
| ↑2 | The narrator here is striving to recall visions from his childhood, so as to become like unto a child again himself, for of such is the kingdom of Heaven; but he can only do that if he remembers how long ago he ceased to be a child in the first place. It is one example of how we cannot be born again unless we first die–of how we can only save our lives by first losing it. Whosoever hath ears to hear, let them hear. |
| ↑3 | A line that only gets more devastating the older you get. |
| ↑4 | “God Be With You Till We Meet Again” is Hymn #152 in the now defunct green hymnal, soon to be as forgotten as completely as the blue hymnal of our parents and grandparents; how quickly we forget how quickly things can be forgotten; hence the great importance of actively remembering what is most important. |
| ↑5 | In the Holy Temple, we are instructed in the signs and tokens and hand-clasps that will allow us to pass by the angels that stand as sentinels, and re-enter the Kingdom of our Heavenly Father. |
| ↑6 | Halloween, as we’ve published before, is the one season a year in Anglo-centric culture when we allow ourselves to treat the dead as our friends (as indeed, per the Spirit of Elijah, we should have been treating them all along) instead of as our dread enemies. |
| ↑7 | If I might be so bold, it’s not the Christmas season we should be carrying with us all year round, but the Halloween one: that is, we should be inhabited by the Spirit of Elijah that makes us recall our departed dead and our own end at all times. |
| ↑8 | “Our lives passed away like as it were unto us a dream.” -Jacob 7:26 |
| ↑9 | …”the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them…” -Isaiah 11:6; 2 Nephi 21:6 |
| ↑10 | Christ, who descended below all things, to ascend above all things–he swung low (“Swing low, sweet chariot” is a song I sincerely wish had made its way into the new hymnal), to swing high. Christ, then, is the titular trapeze swinger. |
| ↑11 | Another set of estranged brothers, after all–and some days I suspect that God wants to redeem even Satan himself in the end. |
| ↑12 | As the angels kiss us (for we are all sinners), so we should also be kissing each other, in forgiveness, mercy, and love. |