Greatness

Do not go in
with the idea
that it will last.
Even the greatest passion
fades in time.
What is it that you love?
It may be the very part
that cannot stay.
If looking at the
blue, brown, and gray
dawn
something familiar is felt,
it is what’s left of the
yesterday you loved.
The flowers that spring
from the earth
never shout the million
seasons they took to bloom;
so don’t waste your voice:
your greatness will come,
but in a quiet room.