The wind carries with it all the years--the centuries gone by
Billowing wide the sails of ships transporting courage
Rushing cold through valleys rimmed all round by the unknown
Blasting sere across the summer prairies
Sighing soft by streams awash in silver mist

The wind carries with it echoes of old stories--the past that is our own
The echoes of Love made and Tears shed
Child born and Cannon fired
Hunger stifled and Valor tried
Prayers mumbled and Laughter shared
Passings mourned and mourned again

The wind touches all with force or tenderness
We feel the ancient ice and heat of it
We take within our souls the sounds it brings
We listen to the years
And remember

The wind moves on--burdened anew with echoes of the present
Adding to its store of whispers from the past
But it leaves a precious gift within the heart
The knowledge sure that Death cannot exist

While the wind lives
    and there is someone
        who will listen to the years
                            and not forget