To: Kyle, Geno, & Bren- Poem on Legends

Dedication To Bren, my uncle Kyle Cannon, and My Grandfather Gene D Cottrell

Legends

Legends do not pass blindly away

With the rising or falling of each wondrous day,

They somehow shake  looming bonds of the grave

And through sharing their stories, memories are saved.

Tales of history, love and of wars,

Tales of the heart for us to implore,

From the knights upon their gallant steeds

To men of slightly humbler breeds,

Legends are built upon lessons of life

In stories of courage to overcome strife.

They are built on the stories of everyday men

Who stood tall with true courage despite outcomes dim.

No matter the outcome or judgement of fate,

They left us all tales that we can now contemplate.

Through lives lived in value, in passion and truth, 

We can heed their examples and discard that uncouth. 

A legend is one who cannot death be bound,

And when a life is well lived it should stay forever renowned.

So now friend, I ask you, in the end of the day,

If they grave where to claim you what would others say?

What stories and lessons would henceforth be told?

Would you be hailed a life well lived, or a life lived just dull?

I've know a few legends in my short lived time,

They inspired my words, each and every true line.

They lived life in beauty with examples to heed,

Those lessons I carry of the lives they did lead. 

When I am tempted to be less than surely I should,

I look to my legends as sources of good. 

I look at their lives and I humbly implore,

Did they settle for less, or strive always for more?

Was conforming to others what made them unique?

Or was it the light that i would feel when they'd speak?

Through soft spoken and gentle, they feared not of man,

And through their examples I know that I can;

I can be a person growing stronger each day,

And when my times comes good things others will say.

Because of examples of those gone before, 

Due to the lessons they left at my door,

I cannot bare thoughts of a life lived in waste, 

I shall make them proud, I shan't be a disgrace.

I'll live my life aiming to be half what they are,

And I will be proud of my journey and scars,

And when my time comes and I see them again,

I can thank all these legends, These men above men.

Heroes may pass and their stories  differ,

But no matter the time passing, Legends endure.