Purpose

I watch the ants run back and forth among the blades of grass,
And wonder if like cars on highways sometimes they might crash.
They seem to zoom as fast as cars and speed on little feet,
And even know directions even though there is no street.

It looks like mass confusion as I sit and watch the ground,
Waiting for the pile up as they scamper all around.
But never does it happen as I’m watching all of this,
The closest to an accident was just a close near miss.

Amazing how in human kind we all make such a fuss,
Because we think the things important revolve around us.
But even before we were born and long after we’re gone,
The world and nature in its glory will go on and on.

People come and people go and sometimes elevate,
To a point in time and space where others call them great.
But even all the greatest people one day disappear,
But great and small alike leave only memories they were here.

Do the heavens gaze on us as if we are like ants?
Watching us run to and fro in such a frantic trance.
Everyday just like the next and like the one before,
And always grasping for success and seeking even more.

Today I sat and thought about how life has passed me by,
And for the first time in my life I sat and questioned why?
Why have I been placed on earth, and what has my life meant,
And have I made a difference now that my time’s almost spent.

I’m just an average person and I’ve lived on average means,
My life has been compared at times to just a hill of beans.
I have made no accomplishments that make the evening news,
I have made no inventions that the modern households use.

I am not a politician, who helped make a better place,
Or a doctor or a scientist who helped the human race.
I am not a famous actor, who has played a famous role,
And a singer I am not as those who touch your very soul.

To wealth I was not born as some who’s only claim to fame,
Is that they were the by-product of someone’s wealthy name.
My parents never financed me to try my little whims,
And I and I alone account for all my worldly sins.

As my life is winding down I have no claim to fame,
I am known by nothing else except my given name.
Even with my children I was once the head of house,
But now I don’t know if my head could even lead a spouse.

Once I was a super hero in my children’s eyes,
But, out of sight is out of mind and comes as no surprise.
The grandchildren that come along should help your soul renew,
Then suddenly you realize that they have grown up too.

Is it true you wonder, that your usefulness does flee?
Does there come a time when you are useless as can be?
When even famous people and the riches and the best,
Are all reduced to nothingness, with time just like the rest.

As history proved time and again to all who come along,
Everything repeats itself the right as well as wrong.
The young and strong eventually become the weak and old,
And until then never believe the things that they were told.

When I was young I used to think that I would be someone,
To make the world a better place for each and every one.
But now that I am older it did not turn out that way,
At least I cannot see results as I sit here today.

But as I sit and ponder about life and where it went,
And watch the ants and wonder just exactly what it meant.
Did my life have meaning for a purpose I don’t know?
Or am I just another ant that running to and fro?

But then I am reminded of a person that I knew,
Who never was important and was always out of view.
Who was a humble person and a very quiet soul,
And never called attention to their status or their role.

Never being honored for their riches or their fame,
Never being noticed for their title or their name.
But touched my life in such a way, it changed just who I am,
And touched my inner being and made me a better man.

So as I sit and just reflect with no great claim to fame,
And life for me seemed average, as I’m known by just my name.
This person that had crossed my path and touched my inner soul,
Made me understand and for a moment I was whole.

This person helped me understand the valley and the peak,
And also helped me understand to turn the other cheek.
So as I sit and watch the ants just running far and near,
I smile because I know there is a reason I am here.

For every soul a purpose and for every soul a fate,
Some will find it early while some others find it late.
Some may never know it while they travel on this earth,
But everyone has purpose from the moment of their birth.

~ James A. Kisner ~

[ by James A. Kisner © 2005 (PoppyK1@aol.com) -- {used with permission} ]