A Glass of Ice Water

A Poem for my Dad and my Grandma

On the worst day of a young boy’s life

My Father said to me;

“Your momma is in heaven now”

And then we began to weep

In that God-damned hospice, no words of comfort said

I saw the one who gave birth to me

Lying on a bed

And then I saw my grandmother

And I sat upon her lap

She asked the kind lady, “Can we have a glass of ice water”?

The best water I’ve ever had

For many years I remembered every painful detail of that day

I said, “Will these memories of mine ever have anything comforting to say”?

But years have passed, and life went on, and I have found the Christ

I’ve forgotten almost every thing about that day

The worst day of a young boy’s life

“Almost” as I still have two memories from that day when I was seven

The first is when my Father said “Your momma is in heaven”

The second is sitting on my grandma’s lap as we cried and mourned her daughter

And how she asked that kind lady for a glass of ice water.

He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.

Revelations 21:4