The Relic

The chimney stands alone A relic of what once had been known The home had stood here filled with love Many promises and hard work made use of The children went away to different lives Some better, some worse, some just survived But none wanted to perserve The inheritance of the past, the future conserve The chimney stands alone Still radiating what once shone Family gathered around close Loving, eating the meal that was chose The chimney stands alone It glowed in the night with warmth shown Children studied lessons by the flame Mother read to them the "Bible" about God's name Now, now the chimney stands alone The children won't come home Dad is gone on to his reward Mom lives only in their memories The chimney stands alone A relic of the past gone (This is the way that this was given to me from somewhere after seeing a chimney standing alone on the road that I live. I have gone by that chimney day after day. Then one day I saw it. I have written the same poem in another form but this is what I was given from the somewhere. Which do you think is the better of the two? The other is called "The Chimney".)