Walls of honor and legacy
Shadows and portraits
Days that have past and dreams to come
Ancestors from years and years and years ago
Children, and children’s children of today
I scan the wall and am revived by their memory and their portraits
“What is my life?”
“What is your life?
a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.” 1
If a portrait made eye contact somehow
Oh to see the Joy and Life in their eyes?
Or feel their touch or see warmth of expression
Or hear that encouraging voice
A shadow surely of the people that came before and now heard after them
At first glance, you think those in the portraits are still
But they continue to narrate life
“We really did have everything, didn’t we? When you think about it.” 2
We will see one another again in such vivid color and expression
O, Ancient of Days 3
Overwhelming at times, the love and joy
And the experience and recollection of family
Portraits hang in grand galleries, and the grandest homes and ornate buildings
But none so beautiful as those I see so closely
A wall or honor, a family's heirloom without question
About this poem:Portraits is a poem about the experience felt inward when you see portraits of family that meant so much to you or current photographs of family that are living today within the shadow of the ancestors that came before us.
The voices, gestures, and love still narrate our lives behind the scenes in many ways. So grateful for family! - Joe Holuta
1 “..yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.”
James 4:14 ESV
2 "We really did have everything, didn't we? When you think about it."
Leonardo DiCaprio in movie Look Up.
3 The Ancient of Days Reigns
“As I looked,
thrones were placed,
and the Ancient of Days took his seat;
his clothing was white as snow,
and the hair of his head like pure wool;
his throne was fiery flames;
its wheels were burning fire.
A stream of fire issued
and came out from before him;
a thousand thousands served him,
and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him;
the court sat in judgment,
and the books were opened.”
(Daniel 7:9-10 ESV)
