Investing in My Future
Little time remains for me
Auditors observers come and go
But I’m the only version of myself
And while I oppose death
Death I’ll warrant opposes me
And you can guess the likely outcome
Even families go on
They have generations
Fathers mothers sons and daughters
And offspring on and on
So that a hundred years from now
There’ll be a trace of them
I hope they keep good records
Have good memories and pass
On the stories of their forebears
Else we’re over when we’re over
What would it take for me
To slip a poem to one or another
And remind the little darling
To pass it on to those to come
I’ll sign my name to it
To avoid misunderstanding
I can just see some clever fellow
A century or so from now
Looking at it skeptically
Asking who’s he and what’s this
My luck he dislikes poetry or worse
Poetry’s almost extinct
Or altered so dramatically
My scribbles won’t stand a chance
Now I might find this challenging
Given who I am but who can tell
What this fellow might be like
Why even a mother can’t tell
How a son or daughter will turn out
Nobody understands tomorrow
Hard enough understanding right now
Or ten thousand yesterdays
Perhaps I should throw caution somewhere
And try to be remembered now
By those I have nearby
Whoever they may be
Keeping a safe distance to encourage toleration
Hoping that on meeting
They’ll greet me by my name
And know a bit about me
Later when they feel comfortable
I’ll slip a poem to them
And another and another
So they can entertain each other
In a literary vein
That way I won’t have to ask any favors
Just sharing what I’ve done
The way to have a future
Is to have a present first
1/24-25/10
Copyright 2010 by Maurice Leiter
Posted with permission.
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