Tradition

To carry an ancestry with you, to choose
A family tree
From books and songs, to walk in ancient shoes
Is an ecstasy.

Not to be this, to see with your own eyes
And yours alone
Is to see nothing, turning from the skies
To stare at stone.

A lifetime is too short a time to live.
Turn to the dead.
They have a greater gift than gold to give:
A silver thread.