Guardians Of Time

May I say that we are guardian’s of time”
But how would we guard it?
Time slips away before our eyes,
From our experiences,
Through our never feeling fingers,
Relentlessly even when we are not intrepid.
Perhaps I should say that we are observers of time,
Each to his own age, his own slice of experience that
Can never be universal.

We have been given the seer-ship of a time,
As witnesses to verify the common existence
And to pass down the history to successive generations.
We must tell; they must listen—all have an obligation.
How would they know except we tell them?
Will they believe and account it for reality?
Will they conduct themselves accordingly?

One generation judges and considers redundant or superfluous
The catalogs of the passing generation.
Thanks, they say; now it is my day.
There is an authenticity for my time that cannot be affixed to yours.
It is my time, they say, that is pivotal;
My time changes the course of existence;
Yours never could, forgetting the foundation we saw.
In this sense, perhaps we are the guardians of time.

In our revealing; in our storing; in our subjective descriptions,
We hold our time against the misjudgment, the ignorance,
Of the self-serving generations that follow.
Sacrosanct, we hold it in delicate reserve from the prying eyes and ears
Of egocentrism.
We will remember, having seen, things that you never will
For they have not lived them, seen their minds and characters
Changed with the passing, unfolding day to day dispensing of experience.

And when it is time to fold our hands,
We can say that it was not the indiscriminate blur of pages
Jotted to fill an ethereal blackness that meant nothing.
The days were filled, as are yours, with color, action, voices, violence, peace, and meaningful activity.
Observe our head stones; note the dates.
Even if we say nothing, our existence and our passing marks in chiseled letters
The validity of an age.
We came, we saw, we passed to declare,
Our silent voices now speak of a time to share.
Will you listen and will you care?
If you are among the disbelieving, do you dare?
We have preserved an age, fulfilled our duty to observe’
Will you be an equally diligent?
We’ll let you know in the day you fold your hands and sigh.