Heaven Imagined

a poem about what heaven is for me

Heaven imagined

If I imagine heaven
it smells of cut grass and
new buds of Jasmine on a mild evening.
There’s a soundtrack of favourite songs
playing at the perfect volume.

No unknown virgins wait for me.
No bearded saints for bouncers.
But there’s a lover known to me
only when our eyes first meet.
He yearns for every inch of me,
and our smiles are impossibly radiant.

If I imagine heaven,
there’s conversation and curiosity.
My friends are there and it’s that easy feeling
gentle, like a garden swing.
There are overstuffed pillows,
cold wine and picnic blankets,
and sunshine and fresh raspberries.

If I imagine heaven
there is laughter
Bubbling baby giggles, the chesty
ripple of old men remembering their first time
and that special girlfriend laughter
husky and intimate.

If I imagine heaven,
it is an A in English,
it’s my mother’s smile,
my father’s hand when we crossed the road,
it is my baby at my breast.
When I imagine heaven
It is every good thing I have ever known
Right here on earth