The Wisdom of our Elders

Here is another poignant poem written by Suzanne Kelsey, inspired by talking to someone after a funeral about losing our parents generation, that I call our wise elders and how profound that loss is ….

THE WISDOM OF OUR ELDERS

The elders with their worldly wisdom
They gathered from their time upon the earth
Were able to tell their ancient and wondrous tales
About the explosive miracle of our birth

They studied the stars and the planets
The seasons, the rivers and the mountains
Touching with reverence all that they discovered
Appreciating the song of their melodic refrains

Their thoughts may have soared to the heavens
But their feet were always on the ground
They found the silence of the day and night
And listened to the thunderous universal sound

The lingering echoes of long ago called to them
To hand down the secrets to the following generation
In the hopes that they too would understand
Believing in the sacredness of our evolution

To tell their story slowly and with tenderness
The elders would travel to places far and near
Speaking softly of love and contentment
Whispering about the bitterness of a tear

Recognising the mistakes that had been made
The attachment, the hate and the greed of humanity
The wars and battles fought because of these
Gave them the graciousness to clearly see

Sharing their respect for all living things
The necessity to protect them whenever we can
Never to destroy these beautiful gifts
And to foolishly forget how it all began

We must acknowledge and honour our elders
Who have diligently shown us how to give
So that for every single one of us on this planet
This will be a much better place to live.

©Suzi@respectforelders2014