What Do I Leave Behind?

What do I leave behind? 

 

A folder named 'private poems'

full of diatribes against life,

a bunch of diaries full of tales

of unfinished love,

a half-eaten apple thrown

carelessly into the bush,

a spaniel with warm eyes

who will wait for my morning pat.

 

As I grow older, I often think of the legacy of me. Will I be remembered at all, or not; if yes, for what? Or is that even important, for I won’t be there either way - to see the inevitability of the human drama, and how we are but a traveler  in everyone’s life. We WILL be forgotten, we will be ashes and dust in people’s memory. People we love will find other people to share the tales of their breath and time.

 

Apart from my breath, nothing else will stop.

 

So how will the worth of my life ever be garnered, known? And what would it mean to me? What would it mean for the world?

 

I have lived a life I have filled with listening to the softest of tones, the pause I have revitalized with the feel of skin, the breath I have rediscovered in the euphoria of a note, the careless trails of things I have loved which I leave behind as discoverable secrets.

 

And my refrain reaches a realization. If it matters to me, it would just be enough.

 

Because a life well lived requires no legacy or memory or remembrance. It is self sufficient in itself, it is its own cache of fragrance and song. And traces of such a legacy will find its own place under every sun - like pollen which is unseen but remains in the sun to slowly descend into the beings of everyone who passes by.

 

If you liked this poem, consider listening to these other poems on yearning  -

• Who Do You Choose to Become When Alone
• I Am a Residue of Life
• It Takes a Long Time to Arrive From Not Very Far Away

Follow me on Instagram at @sunilgivesup.

Get in touch with me on uncutpoetrynow@gmail.com

Subscribe to my incandescent and poetic newsletter The Uncuts here - https://theuncuts.substack.com.

 

The details of the music used in this episode are as follows -

Francescas Story by Sascha Ende®
Link: https://filmmusic.io/song/2981-francescas-story
License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Flucht (Romeos Erbe) by Sascha Ende®
Link: https://filmmusic.io/song/3146-flucht-romeos-erbe-
License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license