Beyond The Gates

Beyond that celestial gateway, Oh, tell me,
Doth there stray no thing but hath reached
Perfection's Realm? Oh, let me treasure
Within my soul the desire to succor,
For within me, like a flame which burns,
Is the ache for companionship with the lesser ones.
Oh, what should those celestial streets ne'er echo
With the halting step of my brother, who,
With unseeing eyes, makes his way martward?
What should no shadow fall beside me
Of some sorrowing one? Oh, methinks
That Heaven would be less the sweetest cup,
For in her perfect estate I should be denied
The loving service of grateful ministry.
Oh, beyond that celestial gateway, shall the scene
Be past my understanding? Or shall its entrance
Be led unto by a twisting pathway,
Lined of briars, one familiar with the feet
Of men and grateful to man's eyes?
Methinks that a God who hath made himself
Lowly unto man, becoming His companion
Through the days and nights,
Understands man's hunger for companionship,
And shall meet this hunger-
Not with intoxicant wine, but with bread!