Every day, without a second thought,
You wish someone goodbye;
Then, out of the blue, there comes a time
When you call out and there’s no reply.
The person you knew has disappeared
And their warmth has turned to ice.
Cold shadows confirm an unspoken fear:
The life that seemed free had a price.
But when you lose somebody you love
You gain an angel you know.
At first every twist and shock of remorse
Is only relieved by more pain;
But then slowly the atmosphere changes
And a still, small voice in your brain
Tells you there’s someone familiar nearby,
Maybe even in the same room,
And the air seems charged with their presence
Softly melting away the gloom.
Because when you lose somebody you love
You gain an angel you know.
They always say no one ever comes back
From the kingdom of the dead;
But there’s no need since energy can’t be destroyed
And their memory’s alive in your head.
They’re around all the time, dying to live,
And to give you the life they never led.
Just listen quietly and you’ll hear someone say:
‘I’m not dead. I’m not dead. I’m not dead.’
For when you lose somebody you love
You gain an angel you know.
‘I’m surfing across the River Jordan,
Communicating through ultra-sound;
I’m at the invisible end of the spectrum;
Open your inner eye and look round.
‘Where I am is the place you once lived
In the dream-time before you were born.
The spirit enters a shell and then leaves;
Linked by a thread that can never be torn.’
Their end is a new beginning
Where grief gives way to a glow
And they gather up light through time and through space
With someone they care for in tow.
When you lose somebody you love
You gain an angel you know.
Heathcote Williams
Martin Wilkinson
Pic: Nick Victor
September, 2003
Real vision is the ability to see the invisible
Jonathan Swift