23 September 2005
This is the first installment in what I hope will be an ongoing collection: passages that have been or could be used as an epitaph.
What follows is not meant to be morose or iconic, nor is it a parody. This series, infrequent as it may be, is from the heart. It is meant to inspire thought... to create auspicious gales.
Let me suggest, then, that the word “epitaph” here is not defined as an inscription specifically for the dead but merely as a passage we, the observers, are meant to remember. Epitaphs are, after all, a gesture... or a jest. One phrase pulled out of an endless sky of sentences. A phrase by which we are meant to sail. The storyline and its final word.
What you won’t find here, then, is Shakespeare’s epitaph. Too commercial.
What you will find will be derived from anything that strikes me as fitting: a riddle, a rhyme, a warning, advice. From anywhere. Ancient and new. Used and waiting to be.
The idea is that the following words and the words following them have taught me something about how the world should be taken. In small doses.
It also serves as a small change of pace, for me and for you, from the grind of this blog. If nothing else, it allows me to dispense with a few of the innumerable quotes I have floating around in my head. And, more importantly, it allows us a moment to reflect.
To this end, we start, fittingly, with a prayer...
-~-
May God bless and keep you always. May your wishes all come true.
May you always do for others and let others do for you.
May you build a ladder to the stars and climb on every rung.
And may you stay forever young. May you stay forever young.
May you grow up to be righteous. May you grow up to be true.
May you always know the truth and see the light surrounding you.
May you always be courageous, stand upright, and be strong.
And may you stay forever young. May you stay forever young.
May your hands always be busy. May your feet always be swift.
May you have a strong foundation when the winds of changes shift.
May your heart always be joyful. May your song always be sung.
And may you stay forever young. May you stay forever young.
"forever young"
by bob dylan