Signatures

A signature is more than just our name:
It is an expression of us, of how we perceive
and present ourselves.
Cramped and small, flowing and large,
they are us - or the us that many will perceive.
There are electronic signatures, 'tis true,
but they are no more true signatures
than a typed name is an autograph.
When a signature is applied
 it is an approval,
a guarantee,
a statement of our involvement.
When we are gone afterwards -
moved on, left the building, even left the world -
our signature remains as a testimony to our presence.

When our life is done and those who come after us look,
where will they see our signatures?
What will the signature say about us, about what we believed,
about what we supported and who we were?


Do we seek to sign that which truly matters,
or have our signatures become no more than another set of words
written because we have to?