Final Reckoning - Dec 6 2025

 

Final Reckoning

Dec 6 2025

The catalogue of stupid things

I’ve done in my life

is too long to enumerate here.

In my final days

when I am called on to account

for my wrongs and moral failings

betrayals, harms, and mistakes 

will stupidity count?

I have my lame excuses,

am good at rationalization,

and can sometimes even justify

the bad things I’ve done

as well as what I haven’t. 

And I’m not the only one

guilty of the same dumb moves.

But mostly, I hurt myself;

my crimes are victimless,

there wasn’t any malice;

and intent, after all

means everything.

Does one owe a debt to society

from innocent stumbles

and the stupidity of youth?

So I am embarrassed, even ashamed

but resent being judged.

And if confession is good enough

to absolve the Catholics

then why not me — 

my head

hung in contrition,

along with a few Hail Mary’s

some alms for the poor?

Because it’s too late for restitution,

and why ask for forgiveness 

when by now

they’ve likely all forgotten.

So after the final reckoning

burn the catalogue

I beg of you;

then stir the ashes,

dig a hole,

and bury the past for good.

The New Yorker’s Jonathan Rothman often contributes their “Weekend Essay”. This week, he wrote on the topic of stupidity. Of which we all have our share. And which these days seems an increasingly relevant topic. (5 letters say it all: “T-r-u-m-p”!) I For those of us who are prone to retrospect and introspect, both stupidity and regret are inescapable. How not, considering the stupidity of youth, our blind spots, and the complexity of human relationships. 

Are We Getting Stupider?
https://www.newyorker.com/culture/open-questions/are-we-getting-stupider