Christopher

  Tears run down their cheeks as the priest began to talk. 
He claimed to know the dead, he claimed we would see 
him again. How dare him pretend? For if one had known 
Christopher, he would have said eternal rest would be the 
best. Now the mother approached the coffin and began 
saying 'Why him? Why me?' As the people felt her pain, 
so they felt the shade that the tree gave since it was a cold 
afternoon and the air was brisk. Had they known that what 
they felt was the spirit of Christopher, they would have run 
in all directions. But their lack of sight let me run wild 
among them so I could see how they truly felt about me. 
The only one that could see this, a child yet to be born. 
He was the spirit that they awaited, he was a new hope.
 What I hadn't finished the child would for me, but what 
he would never do, is to be Christopher for me. I had lost 
Christopher forever and no priest would give him back to me.

Francisco Beltran

Copyright: Francisco Beltran, 1999