Idols and Stars
Aug 18 2022
I drew a blank
when they mentioned this celebrity,
long dead
and famous for something to do
with movies, or music
or was it prohibition booze
sometime last century
before the war.
Or was it after?
And which war, exactly?
Whom no one now remembers,
whose name
doesn't even elicit
a spark of recognition.
Like little kids
generations are solipsists,
self-involved
with the latest thing
the famous and notorious
the all-important now.
But ignorant
of history,
even disrespectful;
dismissing what came before
as if life began with them.
How susceptible we are
to the illusion of posterity,
when the truth is
we almost always forget
are mostly forgotten.
So believe it when they say
that fame is ephemeral,
not only doesn't last
but doesn't make you happy.
Is a burden, in fact.
Which makes me glad
I'm unrecognizable
inconsequential
unimpressed with myself.
Humility
has set me free,
no living up to
no being seen,
no puffed-up self-importance
that depends on the image
others have of me.
And no steep vertiginous descent
into obscurity.
Just going about
my small daily life,
occasionally noting
how the idols stars and icons
no one hasn't heard of
are so easily forgotten.
Whom we always thought
would never not be worshipped,
never fall to earth
and burn.
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