This little verse is any man's biography.
Biography
He was, and educated, and became,
residing and remaining and intending,
then on became in, and again,
and later and later again.
He still is, and hopes, and intends,
and may
but is certain to —
one day.
from Old Negatives: Four Verse Sequences (Cape, 1989), © Alasdair Gray 1989, used by permission of the author