“Happy New Year and enjoy the gifts of life. Family and nature.
Ancient warrior
A Poem by Coyote Poetry

Blood cannot change. Sometime must go back to your place of birth to learn peace.
Ancient warrior
I drove to the forest.
Away from the city.
I took my grandson with me to learn the spirit of the forest.
We walked deep into the safety of the woods and
the friendship of the wind.
I watched the birds and animals fly and roam free.
I found a river.
The water was strong and still clean from man’s pollution.
I took out my sage. I lit the sage.
Said a quiet prayer.
I walked along the river.
Three year old Grandson followed.
“Spirit of life and death.
Please give me strength and wisdom.
Protect the water, the earth and the sky.
Allow the spirit of the hawk and wolf to send wisdom
to the leaders of this world.
So much war and violence.
Hate had overtook kindness.”
I heard a quiet whisper in the wind.
“Ancient Warrior. Put your feet into the river.
Refresh your body and heart. Allow nature to absorb your pain.”
I put my feet into the water. My grandson does the same.
I looked to the sky and whispered.
“Thank you spirit of life and death.
Thank you for the drinking water.
Thank you for the green earth.
Thank you for the clean air.”
I raised my hand to the sky.
I allowed the sage smoke to spread around me and my grandson.
I knew the truth. I relearn many times in my life.
“We are one people on one planet.
We must live together in peace.
We must know peace for the sake of the children.”
People tell me.
Man is foolish.
He cannot know peace. He cannot live without war.
Will a nuclear weapon killing a million people?
Will their screams of cities show the way to peace?
Old ancient warrior watches his grandson run through the forest.
He wondered what kind of world did he leave for his grandchild?
Coyote
Sept. 2012
Beautiful, and heart rendingly true. We need to learn to listen to Mother Earth and remember peace.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I agree. Thank you for reading and the comment.
LikeLike
Thank you John for this empowering and deeply reflective poem, and connecting it at such a personal level to these gifts. People (not the least myself) so often take the basics of life for granted.
LikeLiked by 1 person
All of us do. Thank you Bruce for reading and the comment.
LikeLike
A wonderful trip to bring a child, and show them the beauty and power of nature.
LikeLiked by 1 person
We are the teacher of wisdom for the children. We need to teach them well. They are the future. Thank you for reading and the comment.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you and wishing you and yours a very happy new year:)
LikeLiked by 1 person
Happy New year to you too..
LikeLiked by 1 person
Excellent and poignant poem, John. Our grandchildren may only remember the gift of love we shared with them one day, but from love comes peace.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I agree. We need to have love, concern and kindness as the lead. Would be a better world for all of us. Thank you for reading and the comment.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Beautiful… So deep… Thanks for sharing!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you for reading and the comment. I do appreciate.
LikeLiked by 1 person
This is such a profound and beautiful poem – a sacred prayer of love and healing.
Thank you for sharing this.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thank you Carol. We should all hope for a safe world for our children and protect our natural resources.
LikeLiked by 1 person