My Will Be Done

Now I lay me down to sleep.

I pray the Lord my soul to keep.

If I die before I wake.

I pray the Lord my soul to take.

My children:

Please take our ashes when I die

to Washington, to Bullman Beach

and bury us and leave us lie

in the sands beneath that mountain sky

of that western wonderland

where we rested, your mother and I.

Take some of me to Ruffneck Peak in central Idaho.

Make a two-day hike.  You better pack light.

Savor the scenery.  Take it slow.

Camp at Island Lake where the waters flow.

Speak of Dusty, Nooch and me in the campfire glow.

Then drive to Stanley far below.

Hoist an icy beer to us.

Eat a cheeseburger, too.

As we have done so you shall do.

Soak in the Sunbeam along the Salmon River shore.

Then come back home to live some more.

Tia,

Meet me at the pearly gate

On the day that I am late.

I have no yen for streets of gold

Eternal praise would soon grow old.

Mansions don't appeal to me.

I'll take a trail, a tent, a tree.

But if heaven's where you're gonna be 

Plead my case with Old Saint Pete.

Tell him that I'll kiss his feet.

Line up those saints.  I'll kiss their asses.*

I'll sit through fifty Vigil Masses

If that's what I have to do

To spend eternity with you.

GR Davis
December 2014

* If you find this term troubling, you may assume that I'm speaking of those beasts of burden upon which many of the ancient saints were transported, one of which bore Jesus into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday.

Other notes:

During August of 2014, Tia and I vacationed around the Olympic Peninsula of Washington State. Her favorite location was a little family-operated beach-side condo right along the shore at a sandy spot called Bullman Beach where Canada is visible across the strait. I've never seen her more content. She simply enjoyed the view, sipped her hot tea, and read in a recliner by the picture window while I took pictures of the tidal pools and explored the nearby Indian reservation.

Dusty and Nooch are my nicknames for my two best hiking buddies. Dusty and I hiked to the 9407 ft summit of Ruffneck Peak in the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness during August of 2014. The Sunbeam is a hot spring that flows into the Salmon River several miles east of Stanley, Idaho where Dusty and I soaked after our backpacking trip into the Sawtooth Mountains.

I'm fully aware that no amount of kissing various objects will get me into heaven, but I do believe the imagery suggests the extent to which I miss my dear Tia.