Genealogy and family history have been my passion since I was a young teenager. I feel that we are called to remember those that have gone on before us, to make sure that they are never forgotten. I dig until I find their stories and save them for our children. Their lives, the remembrance of them, have been given to me for safekeeping.
To My Forefathers
As I lie here among the tombs of old,
I dream about the lives you led.
Big strong men, prolific women,
A thousand stories here are told.
One of you seeking a new life,
Sailed across the ocean to a new land.
Far away from home and alone,
You set up stakes and took a wife.
One wife goes, you take another,
Babies come and babies go.
So hard was life in this new land,
Babies raised without a mother.
As I lie here at your resting place,
Centuries of family embrace me.
I feel the loss of days gone by.
Acceptance and love bring a smile to my face.
Love overwhelms me as I linger here
Words on the stones engraved on my heart
Your blood burns through me, giving me life
Your strength grows in me with each tear.
I remember your strife and hardship;
I feel your love and joy.
You are so happy in this new land,
And I feel the bond of our kinship.
©1998-2016 Suzanne G. McClendon
Please be sure to read David's post over at Random Thoughts and Observations.
Please also visit our hostess Rosema at Word-High July.
Disclaimer: These Filipino word images are from an article by Isabelle Laureta on BuzzFeed titled
“36 Of The Most Beautiful Words In The Philippine Language”. All credit goes to them.
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Very nice poem. Such brave people, I would never have been that brave.
ReplyDeleteThank you. I think that they were brave, too. Many of our ancestors have had to do things that we think we wouldn't be able to do. But, we all do what we have to do given the circumstances we're dealt. They might look at what we deal with and think we're brave, too. The folks represented in that poem would never have through people could fly through the air at hundreds of miles an hour or drive cars at 70+ miles per hour. And maybe we don't think that we could endure months at sea, with people dropping dead all around us. We all have our moments of bravery, I think.
DeleteDo you know any of the bravery stories of your ancestors?
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