“Tradition is not the worship of ashes, but the preservation of fire.”
― Gustav Mahler
A poem inspired by these words, the tides of history, and the importance of conserving our traditions to the maintenance of civilization.
Traditions pass from ear to ear
A fateful guide to the lost soul
An eternal binding we find most dear
A tie between that keeps us whole
One may wonder why it feels so fond
To be reminded of days long ago
That which shapes our nostalgic bonds
And beckons us to preserve what we know
An inborn feeling deep inside
Driving us to protect our roots
A love for our past is a trusty guide
Steering our people to bear great fruit
Our traditions bind us in unity and strength
For one fights fierce for what they love
We prepare to go to any length
To preserve our future, we rise above
Our history is our closest bedfellow
Showing who we are and why we are here
From whence we came points where to go
For with our past our future is made clear
When we fail to recall from whence we came
So too do we fail to conserve
The spirit of giants who lit up our flame
And who built our pastures of our reserve
And when tradition fails, so too shall we
For tradition is the preservation of fire
And when fire fades darkness is set free
Then may our situation become most dire
And so we must raise keepers of the flame
To carry on our history and ways
To ensure we need not fight to reclaim
What was built, but lost in a daze
When we tend to the flames of our founding
We not only care for bodies and our souls
We tend to the fabrics of our worlds binding
And put our children in reach of their goals
Give heed to that fire of Humanity's being
Keep it fed and alive as one keeps their own
Keep it safe and guarded from all freezing
Do this and you'll find you are never alone
Blessed are those who keep to the flame
The flame of our souls which guides the way
Blessed are those who know His name
For never shall they find themselves astray
And though trouble may come in one's day
From those who see flame with fear
The keepers shall wash the wicked away
And once again light the path most clear
All posts by The Pen and Sword are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
The Pensive Warrior 
Interesting one.
LikeLiked by 1 person