Should All Man's Exertions Come To Naught Poem by Hugh Cobb

Should all man's exertions and efforts come to naught
(as all are wont to do in time's vast flow)
crumbled with ages, fallen 'neath the sea, or so
totally lost through numerous means, existence fraught

with peril: fragile as a leaf tossed in the wind,
blown thither & yon, dancing along a flowered field.
Like the leaf we need pray for grace to yield
to Spirit's breath so our souls surrender, dance in kind

and worry not of anything we may leave
nor of reputation's gilded or tarnished lies:
To perceive self with loving yet unjaundiced eyes
accepting those truths with detachment, not grieve

a false image or what we might gain or lose,
but take back our power, our freedom to choose.

(Copyright 3/19/2006)