Memènto, Quia Pulvis Est

Civilization,
a gift from the seven sages,
Is not measured in art,
Music, government, or scholarship,
None of the ways you might think.
Most have these,
And remain savages.

You might suppose that each of the seven—
Like the muses, the graces, the fates—
Is responsible for a facet of the world,
A particular civilized institution.
It is tempting to assign architecture to Solomon,
Religion to Melchizedek,
But it is not so.

Just as the Seven Pillars of Wisdom,
Support one building,
Instead of seven different gifts
Each Sage gives the same awareness:
“Craft your name well, O man.
For, unlike the animals, you are cursed
With the knowledge that you will pass.”


So thank Utnapishtim,
Sequoyah, Lao Tze,
Siddhartha and Confucius,
Or whoever gives you this message:
“Live your entire life this very second,
For it is your first and your last,
And it has already flown past.”