Enduring

Ars Longa, Vita Brevis, Art endures while life will fade

Mortal man is weak and fleeting, but the structures man has made

Remain still, nigh-immortal and looming, yet weathered by the cold hands of time

Worlds in pigments, lithic mythical heros, inscribed word and whispered rhyme

Tell the tales of lost, fabled places, deeds and people that have long since passed

Their creators, merely clay-borne golems, are now deceased, not built to last

Through their handprints, words, and long labors cry out the departed from their graves

Seeking timeless recognition, restless kings and weary slaves

Would you be so bold, girl, to live beyond those fleeting mortal years?

Would that I could give respite from your softly falling tears

Your beauty still amazes me, but I know in time it will pass

Not like a fine wine but a swiftly blooming blossom, not the first and not the last

To occupy every thought in my mind, thus you occupy my hand

Shall I carve your willowy body, woman, shall your supple figure stand

Amidst verdant gardens, courting faceless strangers, shall I do these fine things for you?

You are statuesque, indeed a goddess, yet your words still ring untrue

Have you conquered countless cities and nations, have you wrought Minerva's fine spells?

Have you challenged somber Charon's fare at the withered and black gates of Hell?

Have you frozen, fleeing Pan or Apollo, into the still confines of a tree?

You have merely sculpted one man, made of clay, you've conquered me.