Goodness Gracious

You don’t often ask
Of someone else’s
Life lived long ago

And preserved only
As a few records,
Was it a good life?

Was it good enough?
But you ask yourself
These questions daily.

Good enough for what?
You could ask of lost
Lives, including those

That left no records
At all, no fossils,
No discovered trace.

Good enough for what?
You could also ask
Of your own, moment

To moment. You are
Living. You exist.
At some point you won’t.

There’s no summary
Score, no conclusion,
No social success

Or embarrassment
You have to return
To process. No one

Long surviving you
Or long after you
Is highly likely

To ask of your life
Was it a good life?
And what if some do?

They’ll just be asking
Since they’re worrying
About their own lives

The same way that you
Spent yours worrying
Over yours. You’re good.