All That I Have Known
by
Kelly Kirkpatrick

When you hear the drum,
Do you come a running?
Do you dance within the rhythm,
Or do you answer to the rain?
Put away your plowshares.
Come in from the fields.
Bath your soul in music
And forget about the pain.

I remember when the stranger came to town.
He blew kisses to the children
While extinguishing the sun.
I remember how we stared in wonder
At the mysteries he revealed
And at the damage done.

I am of the water.
I am of the land.
I am of the people.
I am a part of all that I have known.

How can I forgive him
For the days lost forever,
For the wisdom of my fathers
In my silent native tongue?
My children do not speak to me
In a language I remember.
My children do not speak to me,
Time is wasted on the young.

I am of the water.
I am of the land.
I am of the people.
I am a part of all that I have known.

I sit before the sunrise
Of another generation.
I sit beneath the heavens
And seek shelter in the night.
I pray before the ancients,
But answer to tomorrow.
I am thankful for each moment
And the blessing of my sight.
Words do not comfort me
In the hour of my surrender.
My wife kneels beside me,
But soon shall stand alone.
I thank her for the comfort
And the children she has brought me.
She has made my life worth living
And made my house a home.

I am of the water.
I am of the land.
I am of the people.
I am a part of all that I have known.