---

George Lewis Avery

---

standing
on the battlefield
midway between
two advancing hosts
i brandish my sword
and i smile

i have survived
on this middle ground
between Heaven and Hell
long enough to realize
it is not enough
for me to live well
for in the end
i would die well
as well

just what
is the measure of a good death

i would not know
but resigned to chance
i might suffer a poor death
and rest assured
Heaven nor Hell
could contain me
without i were content
with how i'd breathed
my final breath

it is not the manner
it is not the method
it is not the hour
nor is it the accumulation of days
leading up to ones demise
instead
it is on the threshhold
that the measure
of the man applies

i will enter that house
[without knocking]

for ... after all

it IS my fathers house

.oeg ©