Already Forgotten
By John Herlihy

Sometimes I feel already forgotten,
A fugitive on the run, misbegotten.
No matter what I did to help others,
Just thrown on the dust heap and smothers.
People on the street who I already know,
Now pass me by without even saying hello.
I walk by strangers with a friendly eye;
They smile back to say hello, then good-bye,
Still willing to give to a stranger, still open,
An encounter not yet ripe enough to be broken.

I once held a position as department director,
I treated my underlines as benevolent inspector.
Even when my workers came undone,
I always treated them like linen hand-spun.
One teacher skipped her class to have a late brunch
I saw her myself eating salad with a friend at lunch.
Later, she screamed in denial and cried bloody murder;
But with my own eyes, I held the smoking gun.
She left my office in a rage and a huff, wildly upset:
“I will never forgive you,” she repeated, “and I will never forget.”

I once sat in an abandoned mosque, quietly reading the Qur’an,
In the Greet Cypriot southern area on the divided island of Cyprus.
A father suddenly came in with his sons uttering Islamic greetings,
When he saw me sitting there like a beggar, he sat for a brief meeting.
When he shook my hand in earnest, he left a piece of paper behind.
I looked down to see a 50 Euro note as if giving money to the blind.
“I cannot accept this money,” I chided him, “I would only be to blame.
I will put this into the donation box, in memory of your generous name.”
He made motions to his sons to rise up and take their reluctant leave:
“I will never forget our meeting,” he told me, “I will always remember you.”

We are sometimes remembered,
Sometimes we are already forgotten.
Someone will always remember us
Because they never forgive or forget.
No matter what we do or may not do
To rightly fulfill our manifest destiny,
There will always be people around us,
Ready to inflict some form of penalty.
Whether we are remembered or forgotten,
One thing we can take home for sure,
Some people will always respond kindly,
Other people will always ask for more.