FADED GLORY
faded glory
something that once
meant something
that everybody
in the world
once talked about
I've always heard
of going out
in a blaze of glory
something that's only
a momentarily thing
a puff of smoke really
in the blink of eternity
no
this would be
longer lasting
a dream
a struggle for rebirth
that reached
beyond the skies
into the farthest reaches
of our galaxies
the true glory
we all hunger for
to be remembered
for all time
but something happened
on the way to immotality
something happened
on the way to heaven
strange
what am I talking about
I wonder
a young boy
with life ahead of him
living his glorious life
among his world
and suddenly dying
in some accident
his memory remains
I still remember him
but his story is
fading in time
this light
this blaze of glory
that somehow reaches
into true immortality
the glory goes
to the real hereos
people in our lives
only it's faded
by our knowing them
for what they really are
people just like us
and the people we admire
sometimes slip
we damn them
for being human
or we damn them
for catching some dreaded disease
or we damn them
for any countless reason
loosing sight of the true glory
we have inside of us
that makes us human
it's still there
only faded
PAUL VERNON DEFFENDALL
OCTOBER 23, 1996
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