This is the last poem made for the compilation Elephants. Its been one heck of a year. New poetry year/compilation title announced sometime in June (as usual).
We used to be in the pack
Skilled in a few things
Loud in the immature things
Our lives were tinged with the dust of our forerunners
And now we are set closer to the front
We thought there would be a path laid out
And it was
We were told how others chose that path
For some it was right and the pack increased
For others it was not and the choice feigned death
We still looked for the steps
We didn’t know better
Until we were frustrated
Our lives not seen clearly behind the stained glass
Our feet not moving the crowd forward
We were indeed zealous and restless
Sharpening our tusks on a moment’s happenstance
We thought we should follow those footsteps
Instead our road was different
We used to play beside the legs of the established veterans
Our immaturity hiding us from the predators who traveled alongside
They watched for us too
Waiting for us to get too close to the edge
So they could snatch our reputation and our lives
But it never happened
We always bumped into a leg, tusk, or friend
Drubbing against the grain they pushed us to remain
Remain on the path you are on they said
Pursue the life that endures with us they prayed
And by golly one day we realized that no longer playing
We were at the front
If we choose to move forward from here there will be monkeys on our back
There will be lumbering holes in our way
We will have to fight to find water
Find mud to keep some cool
Find the authority when justice is needed to be displayed
We will have to step by faith
And some will be convinced to take our steps from behind
Others will mark the journey and find their own
Both groups will advance this life forward and hopefully the moan
Will sound like legacy
For now we talk and walk in the footsteps of elephants that ran before
See, our purpose is only to clarify that this life’s tour
Is meant to be enjoyed when our eyes raised from the floor
Accept and declare the breath that endures
And when we are done we will look back with heartfelt glee
There will be no footsteps on the ground
But in the hearts of those that will one day be
Leaders in their own right
Living by a faith that is beyond all sight
Perplexing to the monkeys on the back and the predators by pack
That glance back will be our handoff
Just as it is for us now
We used to be monkeys on an elephant’s back
But now we’re the elephants others will stand on
Follow on
Attack on
Just watch these footsteps create on
A life that stands on a trail never lived on
A legacy that trunks could stand on
Legs could dance on
Memories could hang on
Because we won’t look back except to see that we’ve led right
And the footsteps in your heart have brought you closer to the light.
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