Epitaph before dying
I would rather you remember me before my death
Sweet words and loving touches
Do me no good once I’m gone
And I find roses that much sweeter
When I can actually smell them.
All the lamenting and tears
Will never bring me back
Bring instead to me now your sweet cheer
And share life’s happiness with me
Take from life now without regret
For death offers no promises
But the life we live now
Will last forever.
Paradise Lost?
We never left Eden, that was the first lie. We had it and left to follow the bright shiny lies. And when we believed it to be lost, we blamed other. The others had taken our paradise, so we marched off to steal, to steal and kill to get it back. What do you want of paradise that is not here? Paradise can be found by eyes not blinded by the shiny lies.
Trials
Unvarnished history is the only true judge. Much as you might have two pieces of carbon, the one that has had more pressure will become the diamond while the other becomes a lump of coal it is with people. The person that makes the needed hard choices will turn out over time to be the person who is true. Some people might tell you if someone had killed Hitler, then that person would be a hero; but Hitler was not the cause of all those dead but an affect of the treaty ending the previous war. If the hard choices had been made in that treaty, Hitler would have never risen to power. But weak men made weak choices and millions died.
I did not start off to do what was needed, but over time I came to realize what I had to make the hard choices others were not willing to make. Those that were lost had already been lost to lies, I simply dealt with them before they became a problem, before they could cause any harm. It is better that a few hundred should die in order to save many thousands. But for a person to be true they must be willing to accept the consequences of their actions. So I stand before you, good people, and I am ready to receive whatever judgment you may decide, for good or evil. I acted as I had to act, the future will prove the truth of my actions; no matter what the present may hold for me know.
The Better Part of the Bargain
I ran into myself the other day at the airport, it had been 30 plus years since we parted and, even though we were the same age, my other self seemed older. Less hair, slightly bigger gut, and when my other self smiled, it never seemed to reach the eyes. We both had time before our flight so we decided to grab a beer and catch up a bit, compare notes to see where life had taken us.
He seemed the lucky one, high school football, finished college in 5 years and gotten his MBA, had made VP in his firm and had the required wife, two kids, house with mortgage, money in the bank and vacations on the Cape. Had made two trips to Europe, once to Paris, once to Rome and was headed to a conference somewhere in Texas. He ordered a Bud Light, I ordered one of the local IPA's. As we talked I noticed his eyes never seemed able to meet mine, we finished and went our separate ways, my other self to his conference in Texas but I was headed to Burning Man, something I thought you should do at least once. As I watched my other self go all I could do was wonder if he had ever really lived.
Madness
Is it madness?
To try and swim
when it would be so easy
to drown
Is it madness
To kick and scream
when it would be so easy
to give in
Is it madness?
To light a candle
when it is your own eyes
that dim
when you don't want
to see
When the world has drained
all the color from your eyes
Is it madness
to light a light
so that others might see
even when they refuse.