My Grandfather By The Shore

MY GRANDFATHER BY THE SHORE

 

I see you standing by the shoreline

gazing out to sea.

Are you searching for the far distant shore you left,

the waves that lulled you to sleep as a boy

and would greet you in the morning

as you wandered the far green hills.

 

Or do you see the long grey swells

that carried you here

so very long ago?

Those swells that lifted the steerage ship

and set you down again

for days on end as you left one life behind

to head into the west

daring to create another.

 

Or do you see in those waves

the strife and the calm

the terror and the majesty

the rolling of the years?

 

Or do those tear filled eyes

see  these waves like you -

crashing ashore with power and hope

yet ever receding homeward

drawn back from whence you came

by a stronger eternal pull?

While throwing forth bits of froth

that anchor upon this western shore

yet are lost to the greater sea.

Your children cast upon this sand

yet separated from the sea that gave them birth.

 

Reviews

[Sami Khalil]

"Or do those tear filled eyes

see these waves like you -

crashing ashore with power and hope

yet ever receding homeward

drawn back from whence you came"
I like how you connect his history with your current one and how generations affect and impact one another. You have penned a great one in his honor for I feel you have admired him a lot...Bravo...:)

[SteveB]

Thank you so much Sami. And you are right. My wish is to be half the man he was.

[Sami Khalil]

Wow. You are welcome...:)

[Pryde Foltz]

Winsome. I love a poem that tells a story. Masterfully written.

[SteveB]

Thank you so very much. Winsome is such a lovely word.

[Pryde Foltz]

Sad and happy at the same time.

[Angi]

I am a mutt with several different bloodlines. My mother's people came from Finland, though. They settled in Northern Minnesota. My grandfather always said that part of his dad never made it across the sea. His heart was always back in his village. Of all the people that sprang from him, none of us know our homeland at all. This was a beautifully wrenching piece, Steve. Angi~

[SteveB]

Thanks Angi. always thought it sad that when the word "home" was used in my house it always meant someplace 3,000 miles away. While they were proud to be Americans they were always remebering somewhere else - living with their feet in one place but their soul in another.

[Trevor Jay Bloodworth]

Elegant and thoughtful. Reminded me of my grandfather and all the adventures he used to tell me about. Great job.

[SteveB]

Thank you Trevor. I think that I have never been called "elegant" before. IT feels nice.

[Trevor Jay Bloodworth]

Haha. Glad that I could help out.

[Stella Armour]

a poem of longing, going back to roots that were upturned and moved from their natural place.How sad that the grandchildren will never know the memories of their grandfather...i really felt the sentiment in this write Steve....

[SteveB]

Thank you so very much Stella. I am glad the sentiment made it across the waters.

[SyberRose]

The genes of our ancestors cling like roots to a tree...I can relate as I feel this way about England...Its exciting to discover the name of the ship they traveled while on their journey to America.Enjoyed Steve:)

[SteveB]

He came over on the Leviathan, he was in steerage and Sir Thomas Lipton was in first class coming over for the America's Cup yacht race.

[SyberRose]

Thats nice...Mine came over on the Ethiopia.

[Rita L. Sev]

Or do you see in those waves
the strife and the calm
the terror and the majesty
the rolling of the years?

I am always awed by the bravery of the generations before, who left their homeland in the hope of a better life for their children. They forfeit their heritage, in a sense - their child will not be Irish (or Italian, or whatever...) They will be American - and that puts a different kind of ocean between them...

I love this write, Steve - you illustrated not only the shore and the sea, but the turmoil and memories in Grandfather's soul.

[SteveB]

Thank you so much Rita. I appreciate your kindness always.

[Samuel Dickens]

This is beautiful and excellent in every way. I can easily fit myself inside both the grandfather and the narrator. The place of one's birth can never be dislodged from the soul.

[SteveB]

Thank you so much Samuel. I agree, no matter where we are, we carry where we were with us.