This poem was written by my great grandmother Alice B. Johnson and is taken from her book, Where Children Live (1958). While not the style I write in, I think it’s beautiful and sweet, and I’m happy to post it here. For more from Alice B. Johnson, click on her name under categories.
Great Grandmother
The years rest like a diadem
Upon your silver hair —
Serenity is like a cloak
That you gently wear.
Years of loving kindness show
Upon your furrowed brow,
Like promised harvest that has known
The earth, the sun, the plow.
Life’s burdens have not passed you by,
Nor sorrow’s parting loss —
Yours the constant faith that sees
The crown beyond the cross.
No bitterness or fear has left
Upon your heart its trace —
Love is the mirrored beauty seen
Reflected in your face.
Tenderly and lovingly
With your arms you hold
Your precious great-grandaughter,
Less than one year old.
She doesn’t see the marks of time,
Where age has sifted through —
She only knows the comfort and
The blessedness of you.
Poetry by JC Snyder 