That You And I Were Here Poem by Gert Strydom

Still flows the river
and the waterfall rage
and it’s still there
as time moves on
the function of it remains,
to stay and exist river
and waterfall
set in a place
on the planet earth.

The mountain at the back
of our house is there
and tomorrow
and in days to come,
it will remain into infinity
as a mountain
with aloes and sugar bush trees
growing on it.

Time brings no end
or havoc or great or real change
to these things,
but with destiny
it impacts on man
and even the brave,
the wise and the great
among men loose their minds
to Alzheimer’s, get frail and weak
and life like the elements
of fire and water and air
vanish when its time is spent.

Maybe a structure, or words or deeds
or graphic images like paintings
or a life truly lived with integrity remains
for a short time,
to remind others in another time
that you and I were here.