We are all going to die
and everyone we know
is going to die
and all the things we create and leave behind
will also, in time,
wither and die
she said
and I nodded
because it was true.

We’re all on the way to dust
she said
and no one will remember us.
Valentino, the great lover
of his generation
is barely an expression today
and soon, those few that speak of him,
even obliquely, will disappear, too.

It’s enough to make you think
I said
hoping to fill the space
she had left behind.

No,
she said
it’s enough to make you act.

Make something
of permanence,
she suggested.
Produce something of materials
that might have a chance to outlive you.
Write your name somewhere
where it can be seen
when everyone you know is gone.
In this way,
she said
you may create a legacy
that can last.

I have a website?
I offered
but she laughed.

A book,
she said
a graffiti tag,
a fort of some sort.
These things will be there after you.

Get to work,
she said.
Construct your legacy.
Find a way to be recalled
after you’re gone
so that you do not die
forever.