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Human Frailty

My favorite poem is Ozymandias by Percy Shelley
This poem is my own understanding of the message
in that sonnet to a long dead king of kings
 
Long ago Shelley wrote a poem
  about Ozymandias, king of kings
A monument to this once powerful monarch
   was found in the desert
And all that remains of the one-time scourge
  of all earthly beings
Was in ruins and buried in the sand for ages,
  feet and head severed
 
It is thus a cautionary tale for all men
  trying to live beyond the grave
In death we are dust from whence we came,
  just as our Maker said
The dead remembers not, thinks not,
  whether he be master or slave
We bring not the gold in our purse,
  neither the crown in our head
 
But it’s human frailty to wish
  to be remembered after our demise
And we go to great lengths to leave footprints
  or build an obelisk
To commemorate our short earthly stay,
  as if that is the only prize
For living a fruitful existence
  and overcoming all danger and risk
 
No memorials, be it granite,
  can withstand the winds of eternity
And monuments that we build to ourselves
  will vanish not for long
For we’re in this world to please our Maker,
  not gratify our vanity
Our mission is to achieve salvation
  by knowing right from wrong!
 
We’re here to do good works,
  make the lives of our brethren better
To make a difference by standing firmly
  for what is right and just
To console others in bad or worse times
  and in all types of weather
And in so doing, glorify our Maker,
  for truly and verily, we must
 
Yes, it is a basic human flaw to wish
  to be remembered after death
Let’s be remembered not for who we are,
  rather the good we’ve done
And perchance our lives be a beacon
  to others, to our dying breath
Then our existence isn’t for naught;
  for our work lives after we’re gone
 
10-04-2014
© Vic A Evora

(2014)

“For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not anything, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten.” Ecclesiastes 9:5 (KJV)

“What we do for ourselves dies with us. What we do for others and the world, remains and is immortal. ”~ Albert Pine...

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