In the Future <br />that will know <br /> <br />nothing of me <br />except this poem <br />& a few traces of me <br /> <br />a guide <br />will show you <br /> <br />my first kiss <br />& how it continues <br /> <br />to exist <br /> <br />although the place <br />& its participants <br /> <br />no longer exist. <br /> <br />A striking example <br />of the phenomenon of <br /> <br />the persistence of <br />Memory. <br /> <br />A guidebook <br />will inform you <br /> <br />& direct you to <br />the places where I cried <br /> <br />here here & here. <br /> <br />“He sure cried a lot! ” <br />a future tourist will observe <br /> <br />& take a single snapshot <br />of a solitary tear <br /> <br />preserved in aspic. <br /> <br />“Why did he cry? ” <br />a future child will ask. <br /> <br />But this fact will be <br />forgot...then... <br /> <br />“Here is a glass jar <br />of his actual laughter. <br /> <br />The reason is not now <br />known. <br /> <br />Here is a glass phial <br />of his lasts breath. <br /> <br />There is an audible gasp of <br />“Is it? ” <br /> <br />But it is obviously <br />faked. <br /> <br />“Is that it? ” <br />a pain in the neck complains <br />“Is that all there is? ” <br />with a plethora of cameras <br />hung around his neck. <br /> <br />“Jesus...poets don’t <br />leave much <br /> <br />to remember them by! ” <br /> <br />“They sure make lousy <br />museum pieces! ” <br /> <br /> <br />From my Past <br />I smile. <br /> <br />******* <br /> <br />Dearest One...this one was a bit too big to get on a postcard! <br /> <br />Apparently someone took a phial of Edison's last breath. Like why? The guy is dying and that's all ya can think of doing for a dying guy! Also apparently it still exists in some museum somewhere! Makes me gasp!<br /><br />Dónall Dempsey<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/from-my-past-i-smile-for-onelia/
