In time we stand

*

Amongst the rubble sat a gravestone. 

It was almost, entirely, gone. Worn down by time, conquered by moss. The roots of disrepair had long set in. Pieces missing, one by one. 

Whoever had slept here must have lived long long ago.

I look around and do not address the elephant.

On one side, it is a cliff. An empty shore as far as the eye can see, wild sharp grasses on the dunes of an old country, waves crashing against rocks below, and somehow still calmly — gently — brushing the white sand. The autumn red pines catch the sea breeze. It is quiet.

On the other side, it is a mountain top. Snow against a single, resilient tree, standing lonely against the forces of nature. The view onto the valley below, a moot of carved mountains dipped in white. The very, empty, far sky. It is quiet.

I return to the gravestone and address the elephant.

The face I see is my own. 

Whoever they were, whatever they did, whatever I did, once those many years ago. They laid down here, and time took them away. 

I remember the first laughter of the garden. I remember the ferry on the sea. I remember the games we played. I remember the snow on the mountain. I remember them, caring, where no one else would. I remember discovery, curiosity, wisdom, the desire for knowledge, the desire for power, the eyes opening to differences no one saw, the world from above, and then the long walk home. 

I remember everything, anything, something and then nothing.

And I remember you, who looked like me, and I knew that I was alive.

I turn and walk.

Whoever they were, whenever they were, it must have been a time that was worth living. There is no longer need to ponder their end. In spite of everything, against the forces of the world, and countless struggles, the gravestone stood here, among the rubble of the future.

There is always a longer road ahead. 

* 

made for MEHU JAM 23 / EPITAPH

*

thank you my friends for feeding me food this weekend

i made this while I was half awake and it just kind of came together