“Are you far or are you near:
Are you gone or are you here?”
My voice lowered to a whisper:
And echoed through the dying night.

It was morning when I saw a stream-
Dancing, flickering, a lonely beam
That danced upon my windowsill-
A lonely beam of light.

Slowly scrambling out of bed,
I sadly thought, “If you are dead,
May I visit you in heaven-
For another day together we spend?”

I undressed and redressed several times
With much anxiety in my eyes.
Looking out the window;
I thought it was the end.

“Are you far or are you near:
Are you gone or are you here?
Are you simply an image
I’m dreaming of at dawn?”

I see your face, you settle down
Into a slumber safe and sound
You smile in your sleep,
Your final minutes tick away.

As if a word an angel spoke
My heart then trembled, then it broke
An ambulance at dawn's first stroke
On its wishful way.

And like a snake into the woods-
My feelings fleeing far from good-
And through the desolate skies of grey-
I knew the path was right.

“Are you far or are you near:
Are you gone or are you here?”
The angels are painting feathers white,
Will the wings be put to use?

I rest my faith in the doctor's hands,
Alone in the hallway I still stand,
Waiting for the sun to rise
To final judgment pass.

And when the dawn strikes I will know,
If you will stay or will you go.
The sun now rises in my soul-
The yellow rays; alas!

“Are you far or are you near:
Are you gone or are you here?”
My voice lowered to a whisper:
And echoed through the dying night-

“Are you far or are you near:
Are you gone or are you here?”
My voice lowered to a whisper:
And echoed through the dying night.