WHEN YOU DIE IT'S HEAVEN OR HELL FOR YOU
Gale Acuff
they say at church and Sunday School but I
don't want die at all and told them so
but they laughed and said Well, you can't stay here,
on Earth they meant so I said Well, if not
then I'm not leaving and they laughed again
and said that It's okay to find humor
in 'most everything but certainly not
in the destiny of one's immortal
soul so I said Well, we'll see and they said You'll
see when you're dead, you mean, but by then you'll
see too late so I said That might be so
but I'll take that chance and then they said they'd
pray for me and I said I'd pray against
them. So I guess we're sort of in limbo.
About the Author: I have had poetry published in Ascent, Reed, Journal of Black Mountain College Studies, The Font, Chiron Review, Poem, Adirondack Review, Florida Review, Slant, Arkansas Review, South Dakota Review, Roanoke Review, and many other journals in a dozen countries. I have authored three books of poetry: Buffalo Nickel, The Weight of the World, and The Story of My Lives. I have taught university English courses in the US, China, and Palestine.
I like Wink cola, actually.