Stories from the Stringam Family Ranches of Southern Alberta

From the 50s and 60s to today . . .



Friday, March 30, 2018

Carved in Stone

When e’re we fly, my man and me,
To countries near or o’er the sea,
We find the old cem-e-ter-ies,
And take a stroll through history.

For neatly 'scribed in work so fine
Or faded now in blurry lines
We read of lives, meek or sublime,
Upon the headstones, lost in time.

The saddest are the children gone,
Those lives stopped short from living on,
Who made no choices, right or wrong,
Called from embraces firm and strong.

With careful steps we move along,
And find some words inscribed with song,
A life well-lived and days so long,
With courage and with faith so strong.

This one, it seems, had loved to fish,
That one’s flirtatious, quite the dish,
A third thought horses so delish,
The best friends anyone could wish.

Here’s a discerning, bookish man,
The next one’s hard to understand,
I see the words ‘The Best’ and ‘Land’,
Oh, there’s the Grandpa of the clan.

A hunter sure, was this man’s claim,
A vixen’s carved beside his name,
Each one unique, and none the same,
Some unknown and some with fame.

Each tells of life or life-to-be,
And written there for all to see.
So when I’m gone, an absentee,
What will someone say ‘bout me?

18 comments:

  1. She live, she loved,
    She worked, she played.
    Oh how we all wish
    she could have stayed.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love to visit cemeteries and read the headstones, too. The one in the photo above is hilarious!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I come from Boston, where the cemeteries have gravestones dating all the way back to the beginning of our country, so I have a love for old gravestones too.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We loved touring the graveyards in Boston. So. Much. History.

      Delete
  4. I love Delores' comment, and agree!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. And mine would say - Finally on time :)

      Delete
    2. I always agree with Delores! Hahaha! I love that one!

      Delete
  5. When I am stardust/feeding a tree I expect to be quickly forgotten. Which is fine.
    And my hypercritical self loves old cemeteries. And diaries.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. My kids better not forget me or I'll haunt them.
      I so love cemeteries. And diaries, too!

      Delete
  6. Wow, such a great poem. I've grown to like cemeteries. Was scared of them when younger. Now that I'm older, I find them fascinating "biographies" sometimes of entire families.

    ReplyDelete
  7. You could write your own before you die, so you'll know what's to be on your headstone, but there's no guarantee your family will use your words.

    ReplyDelete
  8. "I told you I was sick" - isn't that the last thing Spike Milligan said?

    Joan (Devon)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm not sure! I've heard it attributed to several people including Erma Bombeck, whom I adored!

      Delete

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