Why Do We Try?

I find myself poised to erase a lot of my history, letters, correspondence, from friends and family. It’s difficult to let go conversations that bring us memories of one’s time spent, and of more importance, reason for holding onto such treasures. With the shredding of words long since written we hasten the lives of others once spent to the dustbin of time, and to be forgotten.

All of my life, not unlike others, I’ve been jumping up and down quietly saying, “look at me, look at me” attempting to be seen, and possibly remembered. Pointless, I suppose, as, all grown up now and not about to grow much older, I quite realize that virtually no one is ever remembered for very long after drifting off into the unknown. It’s true that a few from each generation are remembered for their discoveries and archived in books, but when one thinks about it, it’s not them that’s remembered, it’s their discoveries. Of the individual them-selves , not a lot, and mostly rapidly fading anecdotal. 

At some point we all disappear. The memory of some will withstand the wearing of time for a generation, or two, but not much longer. 

There are some, however, whose memory remains for centuries, and whether we like to admit it or not it’s usually the evil, and the ruthless, that stand out, leaving me to wonder who will be remembered a hundred years from now Jane Goodall, or Donald Trump.

 WHY DO WE TRY?

Try as we might, 

as soon as we take flight,

we’re forgotten. 

Even if you write a book, 

it’s soon replaced 

by something new, 

not worn. 

So, why do we try 

to capture attention, 

when nothing we do lasts 

but seconds?

Is it because we’re lost in the pack, 

somewhere near the back ,and 

need to be seen to prove that

we’re not part of a dream, 

but an important part 

of something quite real. 

Whether this the reason, or not,

we continue to try to be noticed,

hoping to leave,

a mark in the dust.

          ~~~~~~~~