in the middle of the clamor and strife

he slipped away unnoticed

just as no one saw him come

no one had seen him go

and while he was here he was occasionally noticed

his words were noted

and were cherished by a few but ignored by many

it was only an afterthought

when somebody noticed

he wasn't there any longer

and the few who quoted him weren't too sure

where they'd heard these words before

while the many heard and promptly forgot them

and so a few stragglers stumble upon these words

from time to time

ponder their import and say "well how 'bout that!"

then they go on their way

and maybe some echo will ring

deep in the mind

maybe some chance happening

happening right in front of them will recall

these words

of wisdom or experience or just plain nonsense

and maybe these few will recall enough to pass these words on

to equally equivocal attention

but somewhere the words will echo

preserved in a forever we've forgotten about

and somewhere somebody will hear them

and find them of use...

Content (c) 2008-2011 Philip Milito.