An Angel On Earth

The angels in Heaven constantly watch over,
guard over, worry over, laugh over, shed tears over
all of Mankind – always wishing them to do well.

As angels come to know everything about Man,
some become filled with a desire that they can
not deny. They wish to be human just for a spell.

For they come to envy Man his very mortality,
which imbues his actions with risk and finality
-- qualities long absent from an angel’s existence.

And how much more precious are beauty and love
when fully appreciative of the transience thereof –
each flower, each dawn becomes a ‘piece de resistance’.

To experience human emotions and to have free choice
leads some angels finally to give this desire a voice,
and God sometimes will grant them to live a human life.

These humans are special, displaying goodness from birth.
Those who know them come to call them ‘angels on earth’.
Envy me…for I met and made one of these angels my wife.


(Dedicated to my wonderful wife Linda)


Harry Edward Gilleland      05.22.04