Gale Acuff- A Poem

Shy

One say, when I die, I'm going to see

God if it's the last thing I do, I guess

it will be, up in Heaven, if I rate,

and even if I don't I'll get to see

Him if only for a moment, just long

enough for Him to judge my immortal

soul and either send me down to Hell or

let me hang around in Heaven. That's life

or the end of it, Miss Hooker says, she's

my Sunday School teacher and wouldn't tell

me no lies since she'd go to hell herself.

But I'd like to go wherever she goes,

Heaven or Hell, because I love her and

can't live without her even if I'm dead,

and forget that she's 25 to my

10, there's no age in Heaven, I expect

that everyone's at their best age and ours

will be 18, about halfway between

10 and 25 now. There's no marriage

in Heaven, Miss Hooker says the Bible

says--even if she's dating someone up

there I won't feel guilty about breaking

them up, what else could Heaven be for? But

if I wake up dead in Hell the first thing

I'll ask is if Miss Hooker's there, after

all, nothing's perfect, even perfection

or we wouldn't even talk about it.

I guess that's why I don't talk more in class.