My neighbour anticipates his new body

‘The life is more than meat,

and the body is more than raiment.’

Luke 12:23 (KJV)

Though he’s unsure about the nightshirt and wings.

‘Creative licence’, his Bible studies guest

reassures. ‘You just have to decide what age

you’d like to stay!’ I am struck by his knowledge,

his sureness, of the Christian hereafter.

My neighbour complains of his body’s failings;

of how going upstairs, into his garage –

anywhere – robs him of the reason he went.

‘You get a new brain too, y’know!’ promises

his guest, as though he’s pushing replacement doors.

Part of me mocks their childlike naivety:

such foolhardy belief in a bodily

resurrection. But my neighbour is a good

man who’s shown me much forbearance. He deserves

the brightest raiment his hope and faith will buy.