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Call Me Not Great When I Go
Call me not great when I go, friend.
Call me not great at all.
I was a man imperfect, friend;
I heard the devil’s call.
At times I’d deny his allure.
At times I paid his due.
My sins remember me for sure,
And ev’ry one I rue.
I did my best whene’er I could.
At times, I prayed for Grace.
For crusades and causes I stood,
But errors carved this face.
Call me not great when I go, friend.
Call me not great at all.
If some I have helped to live, friend,
Others I caused to fall.
You’ve seen but the shadow I cast
When old with youth long fled.
Seek not to hide half of my past
When I am gone and dead.
Arahant, I really like your poem. It has the patina of age and wisdom.
Thanks, Kent.
For something a bit rowdier:
Simply captivating. Bravo.
Thank you. I should say that part of the inspiration was Mark 10:18:
Like Jesus, I get a bit suspicious of the motives behind praise. It’s easy to praise people after they’re gone and nobody wants to bring up the whole man.
Excellent work, Arahant.
Great Poem. Blessedly not topical or current.
Not current for me, no. Only the good die young. I’ll be around at least another forty or fifty years. Like Edwin Edwards, who recently died. Nobody would call him a saint, but what a life!
Thank you, Arahant. Just beautiful and true.
Amen.
Thanks Arahant – great poem and I haven’t teared up in at least an hour…
One for the ages Arahant.
Here to serve.
excellent, eternal thoughts put to words
Thank you.
I usually skip poetry. Not this one.
Grief. Tears. Again.
Great poem. Reminds me of Mark Twain:”Every man is a moon, a bright side that he shows to everyone and a dark side that he keeps to himself”.
A little too much of the tears around here the last few days! Beautiful, Arahant.
You shall surely be remembered, friend
Once mortal life is lost,
The good you’ve banked, the ill you’ve spent
Decide the final cost.
Since they unpinned the other thread, I’ll link back to it here:
https://ricochet.com/1003525/boss-mongo-unfathomable-news/
Sniff.