If, when you've gotten past the door that's always locked,
Down the corridor they say is there, and if the passage isn't blocked,
And if you find the stockroom where the things we want are stocked,
Wake me then.
Or if you reach a cloudy gate, and if you make it through,
And if you find the treasuries of snow and rain and dew,
And bring back all the colors to replace our few,
Wake me then.
Or if you get across the ocean that's larger than our own,
And reach the fallen angels howling around their fallen throne,
And can tell me about their darkness, darker than I've known,
Wake me then.
Or if you come to a garden where a tree is blazing like ice,
A place in which even the most unique thing happens twice,
And if you're absolutely certain that it's free and Paradise,
Wake me then.
Or if, in your adventures, you should stumble on the place
From which all power flows like water pouring from a vase,
And then if, after seeing that, nothing else can ever be the case,
Wake me then.
Or if your plans wreck and go down, but if you keep
Exploring taste by taste the extreme flavors of the deep,
And if you come to rest in some more satisfying spot to sleep,
Wake me then.
===
by Kieth Waldrop at "No: A Journal of the Arts."
