An Angel and a Saint

An Angel and a Saint


There lie a red Dixie cup
Lying there on the road
A few miles outside of the city
Observe and admire the hard working rat
As it steps into that what he calls home

A late afternoon, but not yet evening
Not so warm, but not too cold
And not a bit nippy
For a day in the late summer
And not yet fall
All the bustle in the city
Getting ready for it all
It goes on every month
Every season, every week
It happens on Thanksgiving
Christmas, Easter morning
And the hopeless preparation
Of the days and the weeks before
So every day the cars and buses
Go all day yelling and smoking
It's a crying shame that God
Don't come down n' say, "Shut up!"
But seeing every Sunday that
This thing has never happened
The only option is to walk away
And simply look right past them

I come here every so often
Just a few miles outside the city
And I pity it as I'm sitting near
The bus stop, but never on it
Past the cup a weed of grass
And past the grass some rocks
Lower and more out there was the sea
Reflected by the sun
A guitar and a composition book
To pass the time
Measured by the horizon line
An old guitar, a sad looking one
The stain and paint were stripped of their
Old beauty they once had
A weak old steel string was snapped and coiled
But was still remaining
An Audiovox voice recorder
Contained a good amount of notes
Notes of music, music about dreams of love
And memories of hate for the world
The batteries were dead now for weeks and weeks
So no more notes were told
Only thoughts inside the head
And those on beaten pieces of paper

Choppy water, and choppy water
That's all the marina has to give
A few rocks with a light house though
Provides as a small industrial art
My heart felt a little lighter as I soon noticed
The boats had gone off to sleep
I was beginning to feel a little bit sleepy
I thought I was already fallen asleep
Instead I stood up thinking
As I stared across the water
To the left the buildings now
They all had 5 o' clock shadows
And the choppy water blended
Into the sea untouched
The breeze was cooler
I liked that

As I observed, I wondered, pondered
I thought of a thought I never thought of
If there is a God up in the heavens
If He was who they said he was
Could God Himself send down an angel
Of his own
That one day she may land on Earth
And change the ways of man
She'd play us beautiful music unheard of
That bleeds our human ears
But leaves a scab that protects us from the noises
Of anything other than that
A scar that rids our virginity
Of real beauty

The smog had cleared the sky
And out came clouds of blue
Imagine, just imagine
The most beautiful clouds in the world
Out of the clouds, I must be crazy
But an angel came out of the sky
She looked at me with her soft sweet blue eyes
And I observed her appearance
She looked no more than the cutest girl
From school or from home
The girl that has a fun and free mind
But a heart full of friendship and love
Her long brown hair waved around her
A halo propped on top
She wore a pair of blue-jean shorts
And a shirt with a designer music note on
She wore a necklace around her neck
Which hung a golden crucifix
A pair of wings extended from her back behind her shoulders
Strong and elegant at that
Of gentle feathers of a dove
Pure and white as snow
She had a pretty face
With smooth soft skin
The angel had her in one hand
A magic golden harp
The angel in her angel way
Let out her other hand
She looked upon me with innocence
But full of guiding power
I was still a little shocked
Am I really seeing this
I did not want this thing to stop
Though I was still scared to shit

I wanted to go up with her
Leave this dreaded world behind
Like the people from The Martian Chronicles
I wanted a Mars of mine
The angel said I cannot leave
That now is not my time
I must stay here and teach the world
Of things from a beautiful mind
Then disappointment disturbed that mind
And at that moment I began to cry
I do not understand the things
They do not meet reality
Sure they are beautiful indeed
But they're nothing but plain images you see
This is what I had told the angel

While my face turned to a rain battered shed
I lifted my dirty hands from their pockets
And wiped them on my face
As I held this pointless tantrum
I felt something very strange
I felt lighter than before
My feet grew more relaxed
There grew that funny feeling in my stomach
The one you often get when riding
On a roller coaster ride
Eyes were brave to open
But thought they had regretted opening
And the mind was amazed in disbelief
As it saw me floating free
Floating, floating, oh my God
I felt like a new born baby
After the kicking and screaming and suffering
When entering a brand new world
Scared, frightened, confused
I would have been crying more
But my eyes were fixed on this marvel

A blanket, a bed, a woman held me
The angel I mean, and she wrapped her arms
Around me, holding me like a baby
And  telling it goodnight
She didn't say goodnight however
The angel held my body and kissed my head
She appointed me to the Lord
To do a duty for the world
While answering all my problems as well
She told me of the beautiful things
In a song she list them:

What this world has not to offer
Do not let it go to you
For if you go on off and wander
You'll see that it's not true
Some people live on their lives poorly
But times it's not intentional
It is not that they're not worthy
They just don't understand at all
There are wise men who know of this
But they are easy to give up
Because they haven't had their wits
Or they are of no luck
But you my child are blessed with power
The power of the Holy Spirit
And your job is to travel far
And draw others near it
Show them that there is still beauty
Like music and independence
Whatever nature's left to see
Our brothers and our friends
So don't you cry now anymore
Be brave and be true
Go save the world young savior
And don't forget, I love you

Before I tried to realize
She was gone and I was standing again
Now was crying more than ever
But with a smile on my face
The sun was purple under the clouds
And made a vanilla colored sky
A rooster in the city crowed its last for the night
The harbor bells sounded pretty
Silent in the night
The city lights activated
Like still fireflies
The lighthouse was like the lady of a soldier
Waiting for her love to return home

My tears had dried
I quickly scrubbed my face with my black tee-shirt
I bagged up my equipment
Walked over to the bus stop bench
And for a few I waited
The bus came like a ghost
Wandering down the highway
As I stepped toward the bus door
I noticed where before there remained a weed
Which lay in front of the Dixie cup
There was now a fully bloomed white flower
At that moment I adored this flower
And I loved it
It's decision to bloom at night
Was to live for the beauty of life


- Paul Skinner