Iwao Mizuta - Pursuit

We live in exclamation and die in cipher; <br /> Life's manuscript we write with plan and care. <br /> Down through the years our acts we hope to share <br /> With those unborn, from prints our deeds decipher. <br /> Fame, wealth, and power -- goals we in life pursue; <br /> Euphoria sniffed out of a pipe's wild dream. <br /> Who can withstand slow Time's eroding stream <br /> With vanities washed out from mortal view! <br /> <br /> Fame's but an annotation for a few, <br /> Inscribed in books of histories unread. <br /> Wealth, accumulating aim renew <br /> Our pride of gain, to what use has it led? <br /> And power, that intoxicating lust, <br /> That too must pass in transient, noisy gust!<br /><br />Iwao Mizuta<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/pursuit-3/