Of Valiant Heart

Of a valiant heart the man to shoulder responsibility
As husband and father, tempering affection’s agility
To equally accord between his wife and each child,
And in Adversity’s grim face, never downcast or riled,
Forgiving all transgressions, takes Karma in his stride,
An ear of compassion in whom loved ones may confide
Their fears and tribulations, although imagined or slight,
Without inducing angst or earning condescension’s bite.

That such a man might care to marry and a family raise,
To provide for and cherish, shall gain my eternal praise
In this fickle world of today, where nothing is certain,
And each tomorrow perchance draw extinction’s curtain
Across the revered window we term casually as Life,
For all things are at flux, within this age of great strife.

I gaze abroad, impotent, as diverse cataclysmic change,
Ecological and political, across the whole planet range,
A bio-system overloaded, an environment on the wane,
As clans battle for sustenance or slight territorial gain;
So to our family’s Paladin I pledge my fidelity and love,
For of the Self’s pernicious cult, he hath risen far above.