Destiny

Not being Catholic nor Jew, I may not sit in that small chamber to confess, or cry my tears while gripping with numb fingertips the wailing wall. I come to you, my dear old friend to ask advice. I've travelled long and often took the hilly roads, due to the views and then the pleasure of descending into valleys, with a well earned ease. I took to resting under trees, 'twas always hard to leave their pleasant company, and I preferred to reach the outskirts of small villages so close to dusk, when there would be a festive atmosphere, with candles being lit and heavy curtains drawn, the children's voices, muffled though, would echo off the stones and hopeful dogs, left out to guard the folks from evil spirits and foul-smelling vagrants from the East. I'd knock and wish them well and offer to perform, to play my Klingenthal, the oldest violin and one which warmed the coldest heart of stone. They'd give me bread and, for a song of love or one to praise our Lord, I'd sleep the night away among the goats, watched by the loving eyes of Jersey cows and there was peace within the barn and in my heart. The year came swiftly when I settled in the hills, a house of stone a tiny plot, a picket fence, and she was there as if the gods themselves had planned it all and there was method and no madness to it all. His robe was black his voice a somber litany, 'till death, he said and it was clear to one and all, decades would pass and there would be, the happy laughter and the patter of small feet. All things, the pastor had, so many moons ago pronounced to only me, are possible to those who do, devoid of doubt, believe. He'd grabbed me by my bony shoulders then he hugged me tight, you'll be the one who will, without regret make waves, it is an honour to be wise and always to remain a servant to your god, and too, to man, so be prepared to pay, to sacrifice when evil spreads its wings and threatens peace you carry truth and inner justice, go with God! I never understood, though do recall these words as if they had been uttered not to innocent and eager ears of youth but yesterday. And I would be here, at your church today, to ask advice of you, my learned mentor and my trusted friend. Sadly, you have been called to be with Him, and I have drifted in the years away from God, not to forsake, but just to be a better man. And here I stand, without an ear to hear my tale, I now must trust not God nor Priest nor destiny, I shall speak clearly to myself and to the soul who held my hand, yes, just to dance and have a happy afternoon, to hear our laughter over silliness and sin, and walk the beach that night while watching a full Moon. It is bizarre, I say and really, who'd have thought? I've studied physics and the whole of chemistry, I've found the errors and the scientific lies but there was something much more powerful than me and it lay smiling in those still and lovely eyes. So to be fair, I shall enlist her as one judge, appoint myself to be the voice to tip the scale, no use of asking those who stare (we shall not budge) and if God will we'll stand together just to wail.