Authored: March 26, 2024

PROSE

I walked along the remembrance wall as the sun was setting.
The soft wind, blowing across my shoulders
People in a crowd, walking softly, tepidly
On polished Marbled floors
I came across a sign, etched by someone long gone now.

"To everyone reading this, I sincerely wish for whatever was causing you pain or stress shall pass. May your negative thoughts, excessive worries and doubts disappear, replaced by clarity and understanding. May the rest of your life be filled with peace, serenity and above all Love."

A stirring like a wave, took hold of me and I move forward.
Messages left by generations before me
Now etched as memories, of people who had been.
I read and walked slowly.

"Just found out my wife is pregnant with our first kid. I'm happy but really scared. I hope I can be a good dad."

"I was never able to say goodbye to my grandmother before she passed away, the last day she was alive I could have gone to visit her and I didn't want to go, I'm so sorry Grandma. I wish you had been alive to see me graduate from the 4th grade of high school. I miss you grandmother."

"The deepest principle in human nature is the craving to be appreciated…."

I was so lost reading these memories,
That I didn't notice that I was all alone.
I had been searching and contemplating
The reasons for everything.

In these tangled flesh and bone
Under Human statures
Of Hopes and Dreams
Don't let time defeat you.
I came upon the last message.

"Maybe I should have tried harder and enjoy things I wanted to be. I had hopes, and dreams. But let me tell you, dear reader, I really love the ending when, out of nowhere, nothing happens."

Beyond this message
This is where I stared at the Void.
Churning, away, the darkness beyond impregnatable
And I whispered a message that became a post on the wall.

"I wish everyone peace in the quiet hours of loss and hopelessness."