“Day of wrath and doom impending,
David’s words with Sybil’s blending,
Heaven and earth in ashes pending”
Translation by William Josiah Irons, 1849
Dancing through this paradoxical paradise
As heaven and hell keep cutting in on each other
We listen to the universal song play out
Basso profondo to soprano and all the rest between
This cosmic tune speaks volumes but matters not
Except to guide us to the dies irae of finality
A judgment on universal mortality
And if we feel trepidation as the final chorus sounds
Let’s remember that rapturous transcendence
Is part of the final arrangement
So let the grim foreboding of annihilation pass
Concentrate instead on the glory of the forgotten chord
Strummed into being at the moment of creation
Resounding still inside us all
Inside the quiet of a sublime mind
In the look that passes between lovers
Or the gentle touch of every mother
So when the final trumpet blows
Embrace the sound of truthful joy
Let it lift your spirit and your self
Into the moment of reward
David Trudel © 2013
