Those Who Came Before Us…ancestry
Lest we forget those who came before us,
faced change and new worlds
far more hostile than our own,
and through that they found place and prospered,
to forgo the trespasses of past to ensure a future
for their children and their children’s children.
They, in stoic stance, did carry the weight of burdens,
harsher in environment, without comfort
and the technologies we take for granted,
yet they survived, with steely resolve,
that we, their offspring should benefit
and in life flourish.
How I revere their strength, their aptitude,
to forage and hunt and adapt to struggle,
against all odds and violent outcomes
that marked their time and lives,
and as we sit upon our plush chairs,
concerned about bills and promotions,
we may think back to their time,
when food and shelter were only possibilities.
If we were stripped of technology,
how would we cope,
thrown into a world of literal struggle;
would we be weak and ineffectual
or staunch and adaptable,
when life has made us soft, spoiled
and filled with self-importance?
Lest we forget those who came before us,
for they learned of real life, working for the better,
when paths were strewn with danger and obstacles
that tested man to his very foundations,
and tis their legacy that we should be empowered
with strength and resilience,
for nothing is certain in present or future.
Tony DeLorger © 2017
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Our ancestors were so resilient in ways we do not even consider today. I would love to get the Foxfire 14 book collection about how people in the Appalachians lived and survived so very many years ago. There is a resurgence of how to survive like our ancestors did. Many believe there are some bad times coming for humanity and if we don’t learn how to preserve foods and build our own shelters, etc. we will be lost. I love this epistle of yours, Tony. It reminds us just how too comfortable we have become with technology and depending on grocery stores for our foods, etc. You have great work here we should all seriously think about and take some action. I just may go back to foraging and canning/preserving fruits and vegetables like I did when my kids were little.
It would do us all good I think, we are so dependent and not used to real work, physical work that is and knowing how to survive without the comforts of technology. Cheers!
Our ancestors must never be forgotten. Mine had all the strife of different WW wars and on of immigration and so on. There are so many stories that I can learn from and so many things I can relate to. Your poem is a wonderful reminder.
Thanks Rasma, yes we all take things for granted; our generation generally is luck to have missed wars and much hardship. there are many of course who still are in upheaval in the world. Glad you appreciated the thoughts. Take care.