A child is born as a gift because that what we are
No heinostrity their birth wasn't their choice attach
Children can overcome disadvantages in our lives
Every generations must learn from that was before
Some talk about skeletons in the family cupboards
Today we are part of our past building block of old
Reaching out from the past into tomorrow that life
Yes be proud of the fact your place in someone life
Creating a link
between young and old
learning from the past
the present and
the future
bringing together
happy endings
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
granite roots gripping Pennsylvania-Dutch shale
taught me Schicksal, spun our bloodlines into compass stars~
Stärke whispered through his fractured Fraktur tales
*******************************
Schicksal = German for (fate/destiny); reflects language teaching with genealogical purpose
Stärke = strength in German
Fraktur = a stylized, highly decorative watercolor or watercolor-and-ink painting in the Pennsylvania-German tradition, often bearing elaborate calligraphy and standardized motifs, as birds, tulips, mermaids, and unicorns, and typically appearing on a book page, baptismal certificate or other family record, or merchant's advertisement. (Source: dictionary.com)
TIES THAT BIND
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
German
descendant
am I
ties
bind me
to
'Deutschland'
ethereal
threads
The tree of life has roots to the beginning of time
infiltrating depths unfathomable
lost in the nebulae of bygone memories
the illusion of neat lines soon tangled in a fog
hiding stories obsolete and long forgotten
Diluted storytelling buried beneath fresh tales
and soon hazy with its clouded details
the feats out of mind fade into oblivion
facts turned to hearsay are cast aside
with stranded witnesses turned to dust
and players past and long forgotten
AP: 2nd place 2025
Submitted on May 17, 2025 to contest YOUR CHOICE R sponsored by BRIAN STRAND - Honorable Mention
She is more than the eyes
you set upon her,
she is the fire in her veins
Bold stories mark skin
Ancestral markings scream fierce
Warriors inside
Crimson hue, last stain of life with ears,
Ritual’s mark, from hunger and thirst earth drinks,
Thick and red, a crimson rain, that sacred flow!
Binding souls in eerie light and,
Draws like a moth to light.
Emotions, weightier than a thousand on a scale
Veiled in dark, that haunting stain in treaties.
“Blood is thicker than water”
We find deep inside ourselves
The traits of ancestors therein dwells
Grandpa’s eyes, our Mom’s hair
Our stature from … who knows where?
What we claim as thought process
We may be forced to re-address
Twas Grandpa Lee that caused, you see,
Our newer minds to think like he.
Our gait, as we walk around
Has origins in history bound
Great-aunt Edna, strolled about
With identical strides – long and stout.
And talents that we think so fine
Are not all yours, not all mine
For somewhere in our ancestry
There lay originality.
Our composition, it is made
Of melded steel that made our blade
For all our ancestral kin
Provided steel to place therein
We flaunt individuality
But in truth, it’s not just we
‘Tis ages of posterity
That comprise our totality
Burning in black flames of eternal woes,
my heart yearns to find answers it's needing.
Skin begins to wilt like a winter rose,
bruised from deep wounds of internal bleeding.
Haunted by sad soul's whimpering mourning,
shards of hope crack like dire demolitions.
Stumbling and crumbling without a warning.
An endless demotion of emotions.
Hail of tears plunder on marble tombstones.
I question the deceased for explanations,
but beneath the earth they have become bones.
I turn to the skies to express frustrations.
Taking back my pain, so pardon my pleas,
as I raze the roots of my ancestry.
Ivan Talbot in W A, has some lineage; online today
Claims Rollo and Miliesius, and Hezikiah are all his
Forebears such 'could be dire' I know this line of the
Irish King, for he's my blood too (my kith and kin) I
Find it strange, for I never knew.' Of Ivan ever twixt me
And you.' yet (Here he is a countryman) with his births
And proofs this Aussie man.' Through the lips of an
Alien ( returned to among his own ) off the lips of
Such came much of the 'tome' or Bible if you preffer to
describe.? Its where the will of God resides
Its prophets came, and come today.' In line with Him
His will to say, yet back to Ivan who values who seeks
Redress and the prophets and much.' In breif
The weal of the
Realm (that seems just and true? ) yet he needs the
People I'm telling you.! so Ivan who I have never met.!
May they try your claim, let the lords debate let
The laywers vet..' And if you
Are as you claim and say, I'll meet and greet you as
My blood; and true compadre.!
Ancestry and Me
I am:
55% Western European
13% Jewish
20% Scotch-Irish
12% Scandinavian
So, my DNA tells me.
I’m a mutt, a combination,
an aggregation, an agglomeration,
a conglomeration and what other word
you want to use.
But, you add this all up
and I am me.
The History of Black People,
And all of our People should be celebrated
Year-round: every day, week, month, and decade.
The celebration should go on unabated,
All the time. The first couple,
Ever existed, had dark skin, said
Many credible historians,
Archeologists and great citizens.
The month of February is evidently too short.
Twenty-eight days are not enough,
To commemorate our Brave People, who've fought
And defeated ignorance, bigotry and slavery.
Three hundred and sixty-five days are not enough,
To honor the struggle of the Slaves who were brought
To different parts of the world. A century
Is not enough. Many centuries are not enough.
We need, every single day of the almanac,
To celebrate, to remember the first Black
Couple, our Ancestors,
Our Brothers and Sisters.
Copyright© January 2017 Logerie Hebert, all rights reserved
Hebert Logerie is the author of several books of poems.
A chigger avoiding a scratch
Did not wait for larva to hatch
It found a new host
And quickly could boast,
"Our gedcoms are a perfect match!"
Its true that your mum knew a cad
But no call for you to feel sad
For all said and done
It wasn't much fun
Someone had it in for your Dad
Sub Categories
Looking for the formal definition, structure, and history of this poetry form? Visit the Poetry Dictionary entry below. Then return to explore how PoetrySoup members bring the form to life through their own poems.