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A Waste of Time

Sometimes I think my life a waste of time
That I have accomplished nothing of note,
When I observe those with lives sublime
I fear I am stuck in a backwood remote.

My mind becomes overwhelmed with fear
That I may leave this life without a legacy
With all I have accomplished left at a bier,
Where some have labeled all mendacity.

Yet I know that time for all must expire
'Tis true, that life on this earth is transient,
And we must to a greater beyond aspire
Then, only then, will I know what it meant.

written January 10, 2021

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Caren Krutsinger Date: 1/13/2022 8:23:00 AM Never fear Hank, your poems are your legacy! "My mind becomes overwhelmed with fear" Have you checked out www.lulu.com? You can upload your own book on there for free. Login to Reply L Milton Hankins Date: 1/13/2022 8:48:00 AM I have not, Caren, but I'm going to. Never heard of it before. Do you think I have enough good stuff to make a decent chapbook? I've been thinking about it. The last chapbook I did was fifty years ago! I did include a few poems in my book of short stories, Ashes on the Snow. Yes, I'm going to check it out!

Shirley Hawkins Date: 1/12/2022 8:22:00 PM Spot on, Milt As we age, we tend to think more about what we haven't done and can't remember (in my case) what we have. Login to Reply L Milton Hankins Date: 1/12/2022 9:36:00 PM Yes, true. Many of my experiences go back fifty and sixty years, and it is sometimes difficult to remember details. I totally get it.

Virginia Gelok Date: 1/12/2022 5:12:00 PM I feel so many of us think we have accomplished little in our lives but when we note the ones we've lost too soon, we realized how very much they accomplished. I am sure we don't realize just want we have contributed to life. This poem really made me think! Thankyou Login to Reply L Milton Hankins Date: 1/12/2022 5:25:00 PM Virginia, thanks so much for your response to my poem. I hoped it might be an incentive for readers to think about their legacy.

Terry Flood Date: 1/12/2022 4:13:00 PM A young girl gets hit by a bus and all is over. Let’s backtrack… A young girl is about to cross the road, you ask her the time… she stops, tells you the time, bids you good day and a bus whizzes by. She goes on to have three children, one of whom has two children, one of whom finds a cure for all cancers, the other finds the solution to global starvation. And all because you asked a young girl the time. Most of us will never know our overall effect on planet Earth. Maybe for some of us, it is just to wonder what the time is. A wonderful write, Milt. Terry Login to Reply L Milton Hankins Date: 1/12/2022 4:56:00 PM Thanks so much, Terry, for this marvelous response to my poem. If it made no other impression on anyone, it made a wonderful impression on you. Who knows when we may be the one who asks for the time or gives it, for that matter.

Robert Gorelick Date: 1/12/2022 3:18:00 PM Love your poem, I believe that the finest legacy one can leave behind is decency; it's extremely underrated....Robert Login to Reply L Milton Hankins Date: 1/12/2022 3:23:00 PM Thanks, Robert. I surely can agree with your thoughts on that!

Kim Rodrigues Date: 1/12/2022 2:36:00 PM The older we get the more we contemplate the meaning of our lives. Login to Reply L Milton Hankins Date: 1/12/2022 3:24:00 PM I think that is true, as well, Kim.

Sotto Poet Date: 1/12/2022 11:58:00 AM Milt, your poem is indeed thought-provoking, and it serves as everlasting mourning for humankind. We've been missing you these last few days, and I hope everything is going well for you. It was a pleasure to read your dark poem, and we are delighted to have you back here. Login to Reply L Milton Hankins Date: 1/12/2022 3:24:00 PM Thank you, Lasaad. I responded earlier, but I think PS is having some problems!

Paulette Calasibetta Date: 1/12/2022 9:30:00 AM Milton, I think you speak for many. We don't always recognize our worth, especially when we are busy accomplishing the tasks that life spreads before us. Sometimes it takes an objective eye to reveal all the list of accomplishments in ourselves. This poem is so very thought provoking, a timeless lament of humankind. And as an objective party, I would say, from your creative poetic pen, you have nothing to fear! Blessings, Paulette Login to Reply L Milton Hankins Date: 1/12/2022 9:44:00 AM Thanks so much for your thoughtful and helpful comment on my poem, Paulette. I suspect it is true of many who reach the golden years.

Gary Radice Date: 1/12/2022 9:20:00 AM No waste of time at all Milt. One read of your bio. and many a read of your poems such as this great quatrain proves that to me. Cheers - Gary Login to Reply L Milton Hankins Date: 1/12/2022 9:45:00 AM Thanks, Gary, for your encouraging words. I think, however, that many of us seniors (golden oldies) have these concerns. I hope I leave something worthwhile behind, and it may just be a truckload of poems! lol. Cheers to you, my friend.