Goodnight Vienna

 

It's barely 15 minutes since I found his body there

Slouching on the settee with a vomit induced stare

An empty prescription bottle sticking to his clammy hand

and half a dozen tablets scattered round like grains of sand

A crisp manila envelope sealed with little haste

'To Whom It May Concern' inscribed upon its face

As I stooped to pick it up I swear he smiled at me

I knew, at last, he'd arrived upon the place he yearned to be

 

 

The letter read:

'If you've found this note you're too late to say goodbye

If you're reading this then I've already left your life

If you're stood there wondering why I've done what I have done

the answer is life and all it brings, and, what I've left undone

Please pass on all my love to the girl I love the most

Tell her I'll watch over her with Father, Son and Holy Ghost

And one more thing - before you think that you can save my life

is that everything I have I leave to the boys and my humbled wife'

 

 

Now as I look down on his form I know I will not cry

I will not wince, I will feel no pain, I will not question why

I will instead be happy that he is at peace at last

That his troubles and his worries are now all in the past

He often told me that he felt he was destined for greater things

that the life he had was difficult with all the hurt it brings

and I know now what he meant when said under his breathe -

"Media vita in morte sumus”  (in the middle of life we are in death)