We talked a talk

& he sang a song

& then I fell down & lay dreaming...

Church music played

& everyone swayed

& all of us then heard his screaming...

I left church behind

& walked out of my mind -

through Hell...or was it Wyoming?

And I found him there;

so young & so fair -

so innocent & yet so all knowing...

And he smiled a smile

so pure & so vital -

so full of promise & love...

And he kissed me then

like a lover & a friend

& an angel sent down from above.

But tears we both shed

as down that road he led me to the place

where he had been sacrificed...

And I held him in bed

as from his wrists he bled

& then Matthew -

he came...

erupted in flame...

& in death he became my

Jesus Christ.

- For Matthew Shephard -