joegoda | Standing on the Nightside Cliff...

The Gatekeeper came to the Cliff tonight. He stood quietly next to me, as I surveyed the wide plain below. The sight far below the Cliff was lit by thousands of living beings, having gone about their daily business, and starting on the act three of settling down for the night.

I didn't have to look at the Gatekeeper to know he was there. I felt him. There was a calmness of spirit about him, a sense of inevitability that cloaked him from normal mortals. I sensed him as a slight smell of lilacs long past spring, of a wisp of a wind that didn't cool, a tiny buzz in the brain that made time almost stand still.

The Gatekeeper doesn't speak much. He doesn't need to. He stands at the Gateway and helps those who have passed on to pass over. There is more than one Gatekeeper, as there are many, many Gateways. This particular one has been an acquaintance of mine for over forty years.

It is a rare occasion when the Gatekeeper leaves his gate. This occasion was rare because of the number of my family that had passed over. Not just humans had passed this day, but beloved pets as well. There was a sadness that fell over my family and it radiated from me. As a Watcher, this was not supposed to be.

I felt a gentle hand fall upon my shoulder. No words came from the figure next to me, but I knew that this night would be a bit different. This night the passages through the gate would be slower. The souls that moved through the gate would be allowed to pause, to reflect, to send love and caring back to those that they had left behind. The life experiences of the recently passed would fall back to the earth to be shared and absorbed by those who knew and loved them.

A tear fell from my eye, rolled down my cheek, and fell to splash on my left shoe. "Thank you," I said, my voice choked with emotion.

A slight nod came from the hood beside me. And then he was gone, back to the Gateway. Back to the eternal movement of the deceased from here to there.

I saw, far out on the plain, the lifting of blobs of light, each one an individual who had moved on to find their path in the Otherwhere. Multi-colored and of different sizes, each one represented the life force of those who had passed on. Some of them may make their way back here, someday, in bodies new and unborn. Some may move on to other worlds, in places I haven't even imagined. Some may find their Heavens and their Summerlands and their Hinterlands. It is not for me to Know or suppose, as I am just one who stands at the Nightside Cliff and sing those souls on to their journey.

I sing for the dead, I sing for the living. I sing of memories and of love and of loss. Of the passing of time and the healing of pain and loneliness. Of the empty hole in the heart and spirit. Of the filling of time with friends and loved ones who ease the loss of those who used to occupy that time and have moved on.

I sing for you, my friends, my family, my lovers and loved ones. This night is for you.