National Poetry Month, V. 7.0, Day 29

Sometimes, poems need warning labels.  Today's comes with one, though it's not because it's anything explicit.  The warning is this:  there is more than one way to read a poem, and you should try multiple ways.  I was reminded of this when my guest poet shared another work with me - one that I don't think I should share here because it's not my background to talk about.  I was generally confused, for it came in two parts, looking like two different works.  If I took it as two different works, it became two different ways of dealing with an idea.  If I took it as one work, it was a transition of thought and feeling - through experience - into a vastly different sense of being.  And I didn't know which reading of it to follow.  This is good, because it forced me to ask how it was intended, and got me thinking about it.  So, when today's idea came to me, I realized that here, too, there are multiple way of interpreting my words.  So I encourage any reader to look at this one in multiple ways.

Thanks for reading,

Me

tombs of my fathers

you are resting, at long last,
your journey done,
and all that's left are memories
good and bad.
i needed you, and you were there,
as a father should be for a child,
to nurture and grow and discipline -
to be an example.
and now, 
as i have done many times before,
i lay myself to rest,
another version of me taking up space
in the cemetery of my forbears,
all laid to rest with the same loving care
as a new me takes his rightful place.
i carry the torch, now,
and know that one day this will be my home, too,
as another generation will 
take up this standard.
my son, i lay no burden on you but this:
live with the heart of the fire,
love with the depth of the oceans,
fight with the strength of the mountain,
and speak with the breath of the wind.