ELEGY: "WHEN ANCESTORS ARE GONE" BY BISHOP SAHR ISAAC PETERSON.

When Ancestors are gone  

O fickle world turns  

Thy tides betray hearts  

No mortal reads scrolls  

Time unrolls secret quill  

Throne turns to dust  

When Ancestors are gone  

They judge thy cloth  

By silken outward show  

Worth weighed by tailor  

Soul stitched within seams  

Followers counted like coin  

When Ancestors are around

Hark, fathers knew not  

Their eyes saw deeper  

No pages scrolled vain  

No fame was chased  

Names built by toil  

When Ancestors are gone  

Maidens stayed wild  

Quill graced palm  

Schoolhouse opened wide  

Fifty-fifty shared  

Woman’s voice kept hash  

When Ancestors are gone  

Days of parchment  

Degrees on walls  

Yet wisdom filled brow  

Years stretched like rivers  

Breath no longer deep  

When Ancestors are gone  

Winds of change blow  

Life confounds puny plans  

Dawn rises, dusk falls  

Crowns slip, beggars rise  

Unpredictable mortal path  

When Ancestors are gone  

They'd judge wrong  

I wear fate too  

Few or many follow  

Still my spirit stands  

I write verse still

©️ Bishop Sahr Isaac Peterson

Sierra Leone,

West Africa.

"When Ancestors Are Gone" by Bishop Sahr Isaac Peterson, is a reflective and didactic poem that mourns the decline of traditional values and wisdom after the passing of the older generation. The poet contrasts the virtues of the past, where people were judged by character and hard work, with a modern society that often values appearance, popularity, and material success. Through vivid imagery, the poem explores the unpredictability of life, the changing roles of individuals in society, and the loss of deep moral guidance. Despite these changes and society's tendency to judge unfairly, the speaker remains resilient, choosing to preserve their identity and continue expressing themselves through poetry. Ultimately, the poem serves as a lament for fading ancestral ideals and a call to uphold integrity and inner strength in a changing world.