What the Kid Did

Do whatever, helpful, hopeless.
It’s wasted if you’re frustrated.
It’s wasted if you say it is,

Or if other folks say it is
And you buy into what they say.
Otherwise, it’s just what was done,

What you did, whoever you were,
During the brief era you were.
A small child shuffled in the dust

Just out of sight of the village,
Neglecting the goat-herding chores,
Five or six thousand years ago.

Do you remember the child’s life?
Do you think it was wasted time?