A Long Enough Lever - Dec 24 2022

 

A Long Enough Lever

Dec 24 2022

I have no public persona.

I do not cultivate an image

curate my offerings

presume to influence.

A private person like me,

who leads a quiet life

keeps to himself

and tries not to bother anyone else,

will not change the world.

I've given up on that;

it's too far gone, already,

and I'm hardly suited to the job.

Not that I don't feel strongly

about our shared dilemma;

it's just that I feel powerless

and demoralized.

So I'm no agent of change.

There will be no statues

erected in my name.

I will not be celebrated

commemorated

or even much remembered.

My work

will not be archived and treasured,

likely never even read.

But there is much to be said

for the small life.

It keeps me very much aware

of my own unimportance.

I don't depend on attention,

approval or consent,

conventional ways of being.

And in a culture

that's always striving for more

   —  status, stuff, celebrity,

an ever bigger GNP   —

a little more modesty

would certainly help.

But I do regret my failure

to live up to my potential.

What if I'd done better?

Like Archimedes long enough lever

used my abilities

to nudge the world

and alter its trajectory?

Because a public life

seems a more worthwhile legacy

than words on a page.

Despite all the scrutiny it entails.

Despite how unnatural a fit

for a man like me.

Despite the immutable law

of unintended consequence

   —  the many pitfalls

of the self-certain crusader

in even the most noble cause.