ONE MAN AND HIS DOG

A man and his dog were walking along a lane.
Both enjoying the scenery and the terrain,
When suddenly a thought pooped into his
And he realized that he was actually dead.
He vaguely remembered his passing away
And that his dog had been dead many a day
He wondered then where the road was leading
In the distance along the way they were proceeding
He viewed a high white wall along the road side
It looked like fine marble and was many miles wide
It followed the lane up to the top of a long hill
He noticed a tall arch with a golden infill
That glowed in the sunlight bright and bold
When he got closer he could see it was gold
He thought it must lead to a great estate
Inside the golden arch was a magnificent gate
The gate was covered it the most lavish swirls
Made up of what appeared to mother-of-pearl
And the driveway that led up towards its splendour
Was lavishly paved with solid gold paviours
He and the dog walked quickly toward the gate
As he got closer, he saw a man through the grate
When he got closer he called out, "Excuse me”
And as he reached the gate he asked “where are we?"
The man smiled and answered "This is Heaven, sir,”
"Really that’s fantastic could I get a drink of water?"
"Of course Come in I'll get some iced water for you"
The gate began to open "Can my dog come in, too?"
"I'm sorry but we don't allow pets." The man said
“I won’t come in then we’ll try elsewhere instead”
He and his dog went back to the road and walked on
The road went up hill and was very very long
They came to a dirt road leading through a farm gate
This looked like it had never been closed of late
There were no fences surrounding the property
He saw a man reading a book leaning against a tree
"Excuse me!" he called "Do you have any water?"
"Of course come on in there's a pump over there,"
Gesturing to his dog he said "How about my friend?"
"There should be a bowl by the pump for your friend"
They went in and there was an old hand pump
With a bowl beside it for his four legged chum
The traveler filled the water bowl for the dog
And took a long drink himself as he sat on a log
They drank their fill and walked back to the man
Who was standing by the gate where they began
The traveler asked “What do you call this place?"
"This is Heaven," he answered a smile on his face
"Well, that's confusing," the traveler said to the man
"Another man down the road said that was Heaven"
"Do you mean the place with the golden street,
The pearly gates and everywhere perfectly neat?”
“Yes that’s the very place” replied the traveler
“No that was hell and the man was not saint peter"
"Doesn't it make you really angry” the traveler said
"When they use your name and people go there instead?"
"No, we're just happy they screen out the dross
Who’d leave their best friends and not feel the loss"