Stripped Away

A youth stripped away from his future;

Only twenty years old ,

crossing a creek of waters so cold,

drowning during his final adventure.

And the world goes on—

The plights and fights

Of love gone wrong,

When all that really matters is life,

Not the location of the party tonight,

or the whore you wouldn't dare dream of making your wife.

Death doesn’t discriminate

On gender, religion, race, or age.

When your time comes, you will come

Face to face 

With the Truth.

Will you know what to say in your final hour?

Will you be prepared in the proper armor?

A youth dancing with fire 

instead of planning for the future

Is Death’s favorite playground.

Get close enough and you burn,

stripped, naked and exposed. 

The young are so naïve sometimes,

Unaware, thinking that they have no ties

To the ground,

because their minds are 

always floating through the clouds.

But Death loves to surprise

And loves to visit in disguise.

As the angels' sorrows slowly rise,

The heavens open up and cry;

And although we may inherit the Kingdom

Too many have no care for it, nor its freedom,

Thinking there’s no chance they will die.  

Oh, but they continue to flirt with puppet-like lies

and blind away the life from their own eyes.

It is sad.

It is done.

A youth stripped away of his future,

while the remaining continue on. 

Pierce our hearts, 

O Mercy Divine.