Sumerians carved in stone
Human creation stories
That remain legible today
Some four thousand years later
But I compose with light pixels
And store my words in clouds
That may dissipate
In a single generation.
I used to write with ink
Which fades
On paper which decomposes.
It was preferable I believed
To archive my works digitally
The better to preserve them
And later to recover
But that belies the truth
Of proprietary programs
And failing corporations
Of changing algorithms
And revolutionary media
Which can easily erase
With disuse or dissolution
The most diligent of collections.
If you care about words
And the lines you write
Take up the chisel
And learn to carve in stone.