Heaven On My Shoulder

(Inspired by a misheard line from “There There” by Radiohead

Heaven on my shoulder,
if the burden I should bear,
will be my undoing,
a magnificent obsession
that could prove, to the delight
of my detractors, to be fatal.

But heaven on my shoulders,
if as wings by which I’m carried,
will be my unburdening,
the uplifting and sustaining
that will be, to the core
of my belief, my vitality.

Heaven on my shoulder
as a whisper in my ear
will challenge my attention
ever straining to listen
past the buzz of the world
and through the noise of mortality.

But heaven on my shoulder
as a quiet voice to hear
will sing softly in the background
as a constant reminder
that I can know, now,
the music of eternity.

Heaven is believing
that life is worth living.
It would be hell dwelling
on some life ever after
without celebrating
the life we are given today.

Heaven in the distance
is the dream of flying
and escaping the gravity
of physical weight,
a load not on my shoulder
but from the ground.

But heaven in the present
escapes the weight of waiting
and takes flight in knowing
now, that life is for living,
forever forgiving,
and death will not hold me down.

Heaven on my shoulder
with a whisper in my ear
will keep me on this journey
provisioned and encouraged
and will move me through each day
towards tomorrow.