to my friends who have gone before me

to my friends
who have gone
before me
i hope you are
there
waiting for me

even if it is just
in a conscious,
bodiless form
wait for me
i am on my
way

if it is only
blackness and
we only have our
voices
that will surely
be enough

enough to justify
this life
enough to justify
the suffering
enough to justify
having to wait

to be able to
hear your voices again
and laugh and cry
and remember the
time we had together
in THIS life

that would be enough
of an afterlife
for me
no gold streets needed
no pearly gates required
just us together

but if you happen to learn
that we move on
again
from where you are now
please,
wait for me.

-Lewis Applequist