Before I'm Forgotten

I am alone and lying
in a hole
that's not here--
not now,
not today,
not yet.

I am alone, but I'm hearing
the voices of the absent.
I can hear their nails scratching
against my encasement.

I want them to find me,
but they already have.
They found me and led me
to a world of existence.

I became someone from no one.
I began something from nothing.

I stood up and stood out.
I let my voice carry.

But now it is gone,
they are gone,
I am gone--
and all I have done is
remembered in song.

- SJM -