The Sun Door
By John Herlihy

A sun door exists that is viewed from afar,
Situated nearly as far as the nearest star.
The sun door opens but once a lifetime;
But one life lived; but one life consigned.
The sun door remains open the entire life,
As we walk along the path of earth’s knife.

Loving parents unite in love to conceive;
The infant soul enjoys this mystic reprieve.
Life begins in innocence as an infant soul;
The sun door opens; the earth door its goal.
One life lived to the full from start to finish;
Only thru free will can its own life diminish.

The earth breathes a breath fit for the body,
As the person endeavors to become somebody.
The earth expresses moods through weather,
Sunshine shining its light in a field of heather.
Clouds shedding its wet tears as a pelting rain,
Winds leveling the land leaving behind a stain.

The infant body becomes a child, then a man;
The sweet baby becomes a person, man or woman.
The genders interact so their natures complement;
The two genders unite so their natures supplement.
The two halves merge together in one true nature;
Ying and yang interacting to create a human nature.

To ensure the flow of blessing, the door stays ajar;
The Divine Presence is always there, near not far.
On the earth side of the sun lies death’s door,
Awaiting the knock that will shake walls and floor.
When the angel of death knocks with firm hand,
Devils gather in the wings holding their fire brands.

Death reveals itself mercifully to be a non-event;
The dying gently close their eyes to the present,
Half expecting the darkness that dying portends,
Followed by instantaneous oblivion that never ends.
As the earth door closes, all earthly life is forsaken;
In closing the eyes one final time, the soul awakens.