An Ancestor's Voice

                                     Upper Sadler Cemetery,
                                     Clay County, Kentucky



An Ancestor's Voice

When my heartbeat ceases and my breath's sigh lies still,
Bury me please, on the top of yon' hill,
There on the top of the steep where the crops can't grow,
The earth will welcome my flesh and bones, this, I know,
For where my ma, my pa, and my little babes sleep,
I know this poor body, that ground will welcome and keep.
And at the head of my grave, please place a stone,
With the name and my dates etched thereupon.
And there, when the burdens of living give you pause,
Please visit my grave and remember what was.
Hear the songs of the birds, the rustle of leaves in the breeze,
Let the quiet and solitude fill your heart with ease.
Please walk upon my grave as much as you will,
For it will be a welcome sign that I'm remembered still.
And years from now, when no memory of me lives on,
Perhaps the letters of my name will be etched still in that stone.
And some future descendant will come searching for that name,
Seeking a forebear to joyfully claim.
Perhaps she will search the stones on that hilltop steep,
With her hands from the stones, grass and weeds, she'll sweep.
And she will study stones long weathered and worn,
For who is buried there and dates when they died and were born.
And on my stone, she'll trace shallow letters that once ran so deep,
Glance at the stones markin’ little ones nearby and perhaps gently weep.
She'll know that I was not just a name and a hyphen surrounded by dates,
But a living soul much as herself who was well acquainted with heartaches,
And also with hunger, frustration, pain, and fear,
Contentment, anger, joy, and loss of ones dear.
Perhaps, she will realize that little separates she and I,
Save the passage of time, a heartbeat, and breath's sigh.
And perhaps she will yearn to know of the story of my life,
All of those stories I will gladly share with her in the sweet by and by.

                                       Upper Sadler Cemetery,
                                       Clay County, Kentucky
                                  Grave of Rachel Allen Nolen