e-phemera in poetry

two hundred years of worth of names
of generals and queens and kings
gilded into the wall of an ancient palace
will not tell you one ten-thousandth
about that society as compared to
one cuneiform tablet concerning a dispute
over a shipment of half-spoiled grain
for our day it will be much the same
the things built with intention to remain
the cheeseburger wrapper you hold in your hands
says more about the time that you live in
because it isn’t trying to say anything
because it isn’t intended to be remembered
because it’s there to serve a purpose then disappear
than ten thousand books of Intentional History
meant to skew or create the story of our time
to elevate this movement or that location
to denigrate that leader or the other people
to actively carve the names of kings into a wall
they don’t say a thing about what was
actually valued by your culture or
how your people actually lived
the list of which nutrients are considered beneficial
what things they claimed to omit as they’re eschewed
the words and colours used to sell a sandwich to you
that’s what tells the real tale of your epoch
that’s what tells the real tale of you too
step back and look
not at the names but
the way that it works
step back and look
not at what’s meant to last
but at all that’s not meant to
that’s where the story is
it’s the story of your life
it’s the story of all our mayfly short lives
the proof’s not in the pudding
the proof’s in the ads on the pudding box tabs
the proof is in the ephemera