The Icelandic Canadian - 01.11.2007, Blaðsíða 41

Vol. 61 #2
THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
83
Poetry
by Otto Christensen
Family Realty
From a family like yours, I suppose.
Independent people’s mystery.
I bloom boldly as a rose,
Rooted in the soil of history.
Maybe by genetic disposition
I got that love for a timeless myth.
Inbred saga-intuition
Leaves me conscious of whom I am with.
Stories of heroism, even a name.
Structural qualities that will last.
Either we are just the same
Or shaped by subtleties of a common past.
The stream, the water, the life, that I live.
In wonder I walk along its edge.
Dangerous and attractive.
My heritage demanding a pledge.
Questions before me and answers behind.
Friends to enjoy and share with for now.
Reflective, faithful, compline.
Strength within grows strong, breeding know-how.
My family is like yours, I now see,
In matters of loving and yearning.
The gene of sameness may be
The art of humanity; learning.