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A few lines from "The Fleeting Honors Of Men":

'When a person's life is completed

Their life is weighed and measured

Judged both privately and publicly

By the things they truly treasured

And people consider the milestones

That dot the life they lived

How they spent their time and effort

And the things they said and did

Many a person would be filled with pride

To have lengthy and accomplished lines

Filling their obituary

As they're remembered one last time

A final chance to impress the crowd

To once more fill them with awe

An obituary that reads like a resume

Describing a life nearly without flaw

Yet how often lofty accomplishments

Achieved during a "picture-perfect" life

Sacrifice the things that matter most

And their loved ones pay the price

Placing family and friends in second place

Convincing themselves it's a temporary need

Yet the race they run never seems to end

For there's no satisfying never-ending greed

Then weeks turn into months and years

Till their loved ones lose all belief and trust

In their empty promises that things will 'someday' change

Finally accepting they're not valued enough

So when all is said and done this person's honors

Are left to dry on a newspaper's page

In black and white their life is lauded

And forgotten by the next issue's day

For the wealth and honors they traded a lifetime for

Are fleeting and soon dissipate

While privately they're mourned for opportunities lost..."