JFK Swam in the Western Solomons
75 years ago.
It's his centenary now, gone longer than he was
Hard as it is to imagine grey on those who never aged
We mark how long a person has been past
Compare it to the length, import of their life
Against the measure of our own.
Yet never pause to reckon
The awe of ages spent
The times we were not
Before we were.
Lacking awareness of before,
We scorn as ancient all days before our own
We think, imagine only our tomorrows
Days which have always been, 'til
We insist they can not ever cease.
So we hallow our tomorrows, call it eternity.
Curious we have so strong a need to see life
Eternally in only one direction.