Poem

When I'm in heaven

Tell me there’ll be kites to fly,

The kind they say you can control

Although I never did for long,

The kind that spin and spin and spin and spin

Then sulk and dive and die,

And rise again and spin again,

And dive and die and rise up yet again,

I love those kites.

When I’m in heaven

Tell me there’ll be seasons when the colours fly,

Poppies splashing flame

Through dying yellow, living green,

And autumn’s burning sadness that has always made me cry

The things that have to end.

For winter fires that blaze like captive suns

But look so cold when the morning comes.

I do love the way the seasons change.

When I’m in heaven
 Tell me there will be peace at last, 
That in some meadow filled with sunshine 
Filled with buttercups and filled with friends
 You will chew a straw and fill us in on how things really are, 
And if there is some harm in laying earthly hope at heaven’s door, 
Or in this saying so, 
Well, have mercy on my foolishness, dear Lord, 
I love this world you made – it’s all I know.

by Adrian Plass