To Gordon

I liked him.
I liked him right away.
We prayed together last night before we went to bed.

We couldn't turn off the air conditioner.
He was sniffling; so I asked him, "Are you alright?"
He said, "Not too good."
I said, "If we pray, maybe you'll be better."

We didn't hold hands or anything.
He said he didn't know how to pray.
I told him when you talk from the heart,
It will come through no matter what you feel.
I felt a spiritual uplifting.

I think he was ready;
He had a smile on his face.
They went to get the doctor; at 6:05 he died.

He didn't die alone;
You got to acknowledge: he exists in your heart.

Charles Glover, a former guest at Christ House, was married and living in California when this poem appeared.