The Mayfly

Consider the mayfly,
The essence of life,
The way that we’re living,
But minus the strife;

No time is wasted,
It’s a quest to mate,
To carry life’s torch,
An ability innate;

The job is done,
And the fly can die,
No one will see him,
No one will cry;

This sorry state,
This is us too,
No one’s remembered,
Only the few;

You may scoff,
And think I’m wrong,
‘I’m not a mayfly,
And my life is long’;

But time is the traitor,
Don’t surrender your trust,
Don’t be a mayfly,
Do what you must!

by Richard Scales