eternal memory

or "A Meditation of Marcus Futilius"

Bust of Marcus Aurelius in the Metropolitan Museum, New York, NY.

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Whoever has seen the here and now
has seen eternity. 

The pullet's ruffled feather,
with misdirected quill and vane

where all the rest are interlaid,
the self-same smoothness bears. 

And who beholding a naked bird
could make the feather plucked

return to its rightful place?
Just so, the moments time has lost

are indiscriminately piled
and ready to be stuffed,

anonymous as down,
in pillows unremarkable

except as they affect one's dreams
when comes that endless night. 

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