Damnatio Memoriae
a poem
You want to vanish?
Really disappear?
Roll out of bed
And look in your mirror
***
Over 117 billion
Human souls ever born
Barely 2 million remembered
Within Wikipedia’s tomes
***
Offended?
Reality’s often harsh.
Finality calls
Like faces in the Dead Marshes
***
So why not live?
An abrupt refocus
Don’t trudge forth
Strike dynamic poses
***
If we beat the same paths
Our ambitions tamed
Every destination's the same
Entombed, unnamed
***
Harken to me, break your soul free
Chase wild and wonderful dreams
Before your time vanishes within routine
And you remain ever obscured, unseen
***
We’re born vanished
Two dates and a dash
It’s up to you
To fill in the gap
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A/N:
If you've enjoyed this, please leave a like and an insight below. If you really enjoyed this, tips to fuel my coffee addiction are always appreciated. All formatting is designed for desktops. Want to read more? Below are the best of the very best of my works:
About the Creator
Matthew J. Fromm
Full-time nerd, history enthusiast, and proprietor of arcane knowledge.
Here there be dragons, knights, castles, and quests (plus the occasional dose of absurdity).
I can be reached at [email protected]
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More stories from Matthew J. Fromm and writers in Poets and other communities.
Past Lives
War made for odd couples. To Private Jim Mclellan, Sepp seemed a good man; better at least than some of the monsters he heard stories of deeper into the Reich. Real monsters. This Sepp almost reminded Jim of his uncle; the one from Wisconsin he met a few times at Weddings.
By Matthew J. FrommExclusive • 10 months ago
Center Stage with Gina C.
*** I'm keen to republish the interviews I did for my series with Vocal creators. It's been a few years and I thought it might be nice to revisit these wonderful conversations. I'll be releasing them one at a time for a few weeks/months.
By Heather Hubler4 days ago in Interview
Comments (14)
Make our mark in history while we can...as long as it is a good one. Congratulations
Wooohooooo congratulations on your Leaderboard placement! 🎉💖🎊🎉💖🎊
Woohoo Matthew!! Congrats on Honourable mention this week!!
This is incredible. Great reminder. seize the day. Loved it and sorry I missed it. Well done on the Leaderboard placement.
A great reminder to live! Love the idea we're "born vanished" and it's up to us to make something of our time :)
Powerful reminder. Incredible writing, Matthew!
To live in passivity means to go down, down to join the dead and light little candles of our own. At least those in the Dead Marshes had a story to live and die for. They made thier dash mean something.
-Two Dates and a Dash- Great ending, my friend!!! For some reason, that line reminds me of an Alice in Chains song that I can't remember at the moment.
We're born vanished, that line hit me hard. Loved your poem!
Dramatic take on the challenge… I especially love the conclusion: “We’re born vanished Two dates and a dash It’s up to you To fill in the gap”
Oooooo! I like this take on the challenge Matthew!! Cleverly done!!
Interesting take on the challenge, that to live is still to disappear. Well done!
Please follow me ♥️♥️🤝🤝
Well said, Matthew. whether we vanish, or how we remain is up to us. Thought-provoking.