Pilgrims at Earth’s Door
By John Herlihy

We enter unannounced and extraordinarily prepared;
Undue gifts bestowed on us, nothing has been spared.
The body is a miracle of efficiency, precision and poise,
Treat this as your home and it responds with princely joys.
The mind, the heart, the soul, we take it all for granted;
The five senses feel at ease with themselves, contented.
We have imagination, sparks of curiosity and mental flare;
With cognitive abilities, we think what we want, we dare.
We look into the mirror at ourselves and what do we see;
We know the one looking back at us whose identity is me.
Why then does a chill sometimes run up and down my spine?
It arrives with a wild ferocity that is difficult to disincline.

We are pilgrims arriving suddenly at the cleft of Earth’s door,
Fallen angels posing as infants who have no idea what’s in store.
We develop a will of our own with no divine promises to keep,
Even God in His Heaven will not deny us what we sow and reap.
We claim our pilgrim journey as a decision that is our own;
We evaluate the evidence of reality to believe in what is known.
Some people see the heavens and believe they are seeing sky;
Other people wade among the stars at night and ask not why.
No doubt there is a mystery at hand that is never fully revealed;
Nature bestows upon us secret revelations; but its lips are sealed.
We take it upon ourselves to think about and make up our mind;
The mind, heart and soul must work together to be fully aligned.

If we be pilgrims at Earth’s door, what then precisely do we seek?
Our pilgrimage needs to make us strong, no one wants to be weak.
From whence have we arrived on earth and whither do we go?
What is it that we want exactly and what is it that we actually know?
Revelations descend from another dimension universal order to proclaim;
Divine guidance and mercy wrapped in words that stir some hearts aflame.
Yet, it is not enough that truth and its truths to humanity are revealed;
Free will inspires some to call this myth nothing but a protective shield.
Others are inspired by mystery of the unknown in the darkness of night;
To call upon the light of constellations and galaxies to prove them right.
The stars dress the darkness of night with an illumination that inspires awe,
Today’s pilgrims need not be embarrassed by the kindred emotions they saw.

As pilgrims we arrive on earth, and at death’s door we will take our leave;
How we live our lives fills our hearts with a purpose to which we cleave.