VARIATIONS ON A COMMON THEME
by John T. Baker
The poems men may pen live after them,
Their deeds are often buried with their bones;
Full fresh the fragrance of an ode or hymn
Long after its creator lies unknown.

Soon grows the flesh infirm, the sinews weak,
Forever afterward the eyes must close;
Too fast the vigor drains from each physique
As age prepares the body for repose.

But words inspired abide, immune to death;
They live so long as generations read;
They wither not but yet retain their breath
When limbs lie still and veins no more can bleed.

We all in time must cross that final portal;
Our verses happily remain immortal.