Thomas Fitzgerald, Co. Wexford, Ireland: I wrote the following poem after the death of Pope John Paul II, as I felt moved to commemorate this great and wise man, and, that regardless of whether there is or isn't an afterlife as he would have believed, I think he lives somewhere in the image of an afterlife as he saw it and where his legion of followers would like him to be:
One man alone stands here in faith,
This man alone at Heaven's gate,
Peter said, "We're expecting you, sir",
But this man stood still and did not stir.
"What in heaven's the matter?" did old Peter ask,
We are each other’s business; we are each other’s harvest; we are each other’s magnitude and bond.
Gwendolyn Brooks, USA
