MY GUARDIAN ANGEL

By John Herlihy

I
He sits on my shoulder
And says not a word;
Invisible as a ghost,
With no desire to scare;
As faithful as the seasons
With their changing moods
As silent as falling snow
And as gentle as a doe.
One day, as well water
Reflects the light of skies,
He saw me reading a book
Looking out the window on high.

II
He sits on my shoulder
and watches and waits,
As wise as an owl
And as smoky as a pipe.
As tender as a breeze
And as talkative as skype.
Days become months
Making years but a day.
I put down my coffee cup
On the window sill nearby,
Wondering about miracles,
As time quietly slips away.

III
He sits on my shoulder,
As silent as a mouse;
Faithfully settled,
like a landlord in his house,
My angelic scribe
He listens carefully
And writes meticulous notes
Without judgment and with nothing to hide
Since the crimes I commit
Are like feathers that float.
I met him once,
So I know who he is.
He follows me everywhere,
But I forget he is there.
I awoke one grey morning,
To eat cheese and bread.
I bent down for my slipper
And fell into eternity instead.

IV
He no longer sits on my shoulder,
Now I listen and wait.
I too am silent,
With nothing left to hate.
Who can break such silence,
I will just have to wait,
Drawing upon reserves of courage
That will never abate.
Mountains fall
And rivers run dry.
There on the horizon,
I see my fate.

V
I journey outward
Along the sparkling milky way
To the resting place of stars.
The landscape is amazing,
I even passed the planet Mars.
Spirits shoot through the heavens,
Sometimes travelling in pairs.
Intent on meeting their Maker
When they will cash in their shares.
While there upon my shoulder,
An angel served me well by far,
He accompanied me across life’s distance,
I now miss him, my conscience, my tsar.