Remembrance Six
Other folk in other times
Relied on religion to ease their sorrow
Believing in a holy tomorrow
Where angels sang unending hymns
And reunions with the departed dead
Were commonplace. No angels sing
In the quiet I imagine; no ring
Of bells. Silent repose ahead
Is all I see in my mind’s eye.
No apostle-managed gate
With one door sheep and one door goat
No joyous harps playing for me.
Empty dark is what I fear
Waits for me, starless and cold,
Un-mooned, a place of frost and mold—
Is this the void that swallowed her?
The Blessed at the gate to heaven with St. Peter -- Hans Memling
"The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate being made from a single pearl." The image of the pearly gates in popular culture is a set of large, white or wrought-iron gates in the clouds, guarded by St. Peter (the keeper of the "keys to the kingdom"). Those not fit to enter Heaven are denied entrance at the gates and descend into Hell. In some versions of this imagery, Peter looks up the deceased's name in a book before opening the gate. Matthew (25:31-46) related that when Jesus returns he will separate the believing from the unbelieving as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. In the Renaissance the goat was usually shown in order to distinguish the sinners from the righteous.
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