Commoner

Photo by Rene Böhmer on Unsplash

No plaque has his face
No street carries his name
He belongs to no hall of fame

He passed through this world
unnoticed
unpraised
unrecognized

The things he achieved
were soon forgotten
The stuff he acquired
was left behind
Those who met him
Say he was vain but kind
Yet, they were quickly gone too

He did the best he could
with the time he’d been given
He loved, prayed,
worked without rest
Till God closed his eyes and folded his arms around his chest

He was a pilgrim
a foreigner
who didn’t get to cross the Jordan
His genes and legacy passed down
To those unaware of his struggles and good fortune

He was a speck in time
A chain linking descendants and forebears
A simple man with trivial affairs
A commoner
who changed the world
simply by existing