Life should be

Worth being held

Softening in the mouth

When spoken years from now

But memory is a fickle architect

Building monuments and ruins

From the same moments lived

We move through a splintered world

Trying to smooth the sharpest edges

Yet, even gentleness cuts

When lost in the minutiae

And we will not be here

To guide our story

To ensure the best of us

Survives in the minds of others

So we live a version we hope endures

Knowing instruction

Is written by hands

Never our own

This poem was written for the Poetry profile Versification contest, day 19! The prompt was Instruction: The instructions were clear, fail or succeed. but could you find it in your heart to betray them?