Mayflies
by Michael R. Burch

These standing stones have stood the test of time
but who are you
                             and what are you
                                                             and why?
As brief as mist, as transient, as pale ...
Inconsequential mayfly!

Perhaps the thought of love inspired hope?
Do midges love? Do stars bend down to see?
Do gods commend the kindnesses of ants
to aphids? Does one eel impress the sea?

Are mayflies missed by mountains? Do the stars
regret the glowworm’s stellar mimicry
the day it dies? Does not the world go on
as if it’s no great matter, not to be?

Life, to be sure, is nothing much to lose.
And yet somehow you’re everything to me.

Originally published by Clementine Unbound. Keywords/Tags: mayfly, mayflies, time, mist, transient, transience, pale, inconsequential, stars, sea, everything, A. E. Housman quote

When I feel
inconsequential,
I remind myself
Destiny does not happen without me
and all my actions
have consequences:
for example,
when I eat, my body gains nutrition,
when I exercise, my body becomes healthier,
when I’m kind to myself, I become happier,
when I’m kind to others, they become happier,
when I turn off the light in the room when I leave
I help save the planet from climate change,
and so on.
Then I realise
I am consequential!

Have you ever thought about how inconsequential we are
Less than single grains of sand in the hourglass of time
If any of us were to die the stars would still shine and the Earth would still spin
Anyone who says we matter because we impact the people around us are the biggest liars of all
Even everyone you've ever know still equal nothing in the grand scheme of things
Afterall...
We are just shapes

You flatter yourself by thinking those harsh words were about you.
You don't mean enough to me for me to set aside time to write about you, let alone think about you.

A Hundred years is nothing to an oak.
A Thousand to a mountain is a joke.
A Million to a solar system just exceeds its birth.
And we expect to make a difference in roughly eighty years on Earth?
PwL  5/5/15

The useless,
Inconsequential moments,
Are adding grace,
To my life.