Vast Storehouse Of Useless Information

A poem from 2017

I am a mind of useless information

Or do I mean

I am a mine of useless information?

I’m not sure

I’ve used both and nobody ever corrected me

Maybe they were too polite or scared or just plain didn’t know?

I used to be young once

It was a great time

I had vigour

I was strong

I was a man’s man

Or do I mean a ladies’ man?

Could be either

Nobody ever corrected me

I was a bit of a brainiac

Wise beyond my years

And I gathered up every scrap and morsel of wisdom there was to be had

People used to come to me for advice and submitted to my decisions

I threw myself into life and denied myself nothing

I took what I wanted

Did what I wanted

Built what I wanted

Worked hard

Played hard

Studied hard

Pushed boundaries

Got stuff done

Became rich and powerful

People came from all over the world to visit me

But you know what?

It was never enough

The more I did, the more I wanted to do

The more I gained, the more I wanted

The more I studied, the more I realised I didn’t know

And this got me thinking

What was I actually achieving?

When I’m dead and gone

I’m not going to live on in anyone’s heart

I’m a man, not a memory

All the people I know will soon be gone too

I’m no more immortal than a poor man

And I’m not really any more loved than he is

All this great wisdom in my vast storehouse of a mind isn’t making me happy

In fact it became a burden

An idiot will get ill, so will I

An idiot will die, so will I

An idiot leaves his fortune to someone who hasn’t earned it, so will I

An idiot will stand naked before God at the judgement, so will I

I became morose

Miserable

Obsessed

Negative

All my vast knowledge and empire building was ultimately pointless

Well, OK, I’d rather be rich than poor, clever than stupid, a King than a pauper

But I saw I was spending my life chasing after shadows

And as I got older I just collapsed into a heap of despair

I had wasted my life

And that is why I can now tell you not to do what I did

This, my friends, is what you should do:

Seek God while you’re young

Do what He tells you

Spend your life building an eternal home which can’t be taken away from you