less than god

When grandmother passed,

She left their story in the bottom dresser drawer.

A few possessions is all it held

And each one told of times before.

Unknown to us, she’d kept these things

As prizes of the past.

To remind her and my granddad of the simple times

And when it didn’t fly so fast.

All sorts of thoughts ran through my mind,

As I touched another time.

And though it meant the world to me,

There really wasn’t much to find.

A gold-bound bible her mother had given

On the day that she had Wed.

“Read a Proverb every day,”

Is what a small inscription said.

The deed to the ranch, one gold coin

And a picture of her first-born son.

She and Jesus fought hard for him,

But Jesus finally won.

A hand-written note, to granddads love

Written somewhere up the trail.

Told how much he missed her

And that life must be easier..in hell.

But the find that caught my heart,

Was a journal encased in leather.

Full of history, to the date,

Its pages were aged and weathered.

It told of life and death

And of cold winters on the plains.

How simple things were thanked for,

Like warmth and spring-time rains.

It said their dreams were captured

And that coming West was not a battle.

This they realized upon a hill,

With their valley full of cattle.

It told of trials and tragedy,

Of sadness and sorrow.

It spoke of treasures and triumphs

And thoughts of tomorrow.

Each entry contained life’s lessons,

One engrained on each page turned.

But the entry on the day that she died,

Was the greatest lesson learned.

And it read

“When you are called to cross the Jordon

And look back at where you’ve trod.

Know that you loved each other more than everything,

Yet, each other Less than God.

Copyright © Shad Sullivan