Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow

She should have died hereafter;

There would have been a time for such a word.

Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow

Creeps in this petty pace from day to day

To the last syllable of recorded time;

And all our yesterdays have lighted fools

The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!

Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player

That struts and frets his hour upon the stage

And then is heard no more. It is a tale

Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury

Signifying nothing. 

Macbeth by William Shakespeare

Shakespeare's words, written over 400 years ago are beautiful and poignant.

You see the thing is......... The thing is nobody's promised tomorrow. All the planning in the world, the hoarding of treasure, the accumulation of possessions, it's all meaningless if there is no tomorrow. Yet we are trained as small children to look to the future. So many times if you ask a child their age, they respond not with 'I'm 5', but instead with 'I'm nearly 6'. Many of us push our offspring to achieve great things, to be the best (think Dance Moms), but what is wrong with just being? Being human, appreciating everything we have around us, filling our lives with love and laughter, rather than 'stuff.' We can't take it with us when we die. The more we have the bigger the shit fight over who gets what, as people pick through the remnants of a life like ever-hungry seagulls.

The powerful soliloquy above is delivered by Macbeth as Malcolm and Macduff are about to lay siege to his castle, immediately after he has received news of the death of his wife. Not a good day, not a good day at all. It is a wakeup call that comes too late. For what is the point of war and murder? Macbeth has lost more than he ever gained and he is painfully aware of this fact, going so far as to call himself an idiot.

Watching the players on today's global stage, and I find that more often than not, I simply cannot bear to look, I offer this reflection, in iambic pentameter of course, as a response to this famous soliloquy.

The world should have said no so long ago

Not turned away, destroying hopes for peace.

Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow

Is not promised and of course, will never come

This land is filled with broken hearts and sorrow

Families torn apart and homes destroyed.

As power hungry men who would be Kings

Tear down the walls and put an end to lives

Lives barely lived, wiped out without a care.

Take a ringside seat, and if you dare

Boo and Hiss until they leave the stage.