I ONCE WAS YOU

and so
in time to come
I will become

your ancestor
someone you will know
nothing of. .  .

I will fade
be
a mere name

if remembered
at all
a footnote in your history

maybe survive
as a photo
locked into my present

as you are
locked into
your future

all you may know
is that
once I was

a stepping stone
to you
becoming the who you are

you as unknown
to me
as I to you

know only
that we shared
the same smile

and loved how
sunlight felt so
good upon our skin