-- The Right to be Forgotten --

John Herlihy

While desire for fame spurs us to be remembered,

I condone the notion of “the right to be forgotten”.

The French are known to speak of le droit a l’oubli,

Protective of one’s privacy and from all fame flee.

To be in the limelight, always at the center, I abhor;

To go about unknown, to be virtually invisible, I adore.

I decline to speak wantonly of my loves and desires;

No declarations and no confessions, no burning fires.

Of a deep-seeded unhappiness no one wants to know;

Nor do people wish to hear when my heart is aglow.

As for the intimacy of explaining those things I love;

People never understand them if push comes to shove.

Truth to tell, in fifty years’ time, all will be forgotten,

Our petty success and failure gone, the body rotten.

Why do some people want a life beyond their lifetime?

For me it is enough to live a good life, secretly mine.

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(c) John Herlihy 9 March 2020