Revised slightly since (last edit: Dec. 10, 2019).
Immortal
I am
not.
I—along with you—will
disappear.
pain and sorrow
endure in our stead.
our sacrifices
are forgotten and cast aside.
money, power and fame
outlast the grave.
but kindness, love and truth
won’t matter when we die.
our faults and fears
surely surpassed, no matter how slowly.
yet our courage and our strengths cry out,
as they fade simply away.
our sins
live on in the generations that follow us, who forget
the Will and the Way
I am
not.
I—along with you—will
disappear.
pain and sorrow
endure in our stead.
our sacrifices
are forgotten and cast aside.
money, power and fame
outlast the grave.
but kindness, love and truth
won’t matter when we die.
our faults and fears
surely surpassed, no matter how slowly.
yet our courage and our strengths cry out,
as they fade simply away.
our sins
live on in the generations that follow us, who forget
the Will and the Way
and what more is true for us all:
mankind
never could defeat
Death
never could defeat
Death
Yet we know that someday, we will rise again.
---
(Now read from the bottom up.)
photo by Aloysius Wong takin in July 2019 at Graffiti Alley, Toronto