Character

Tommy Persinger a man of Character.

Tommy Persinger

What makes of a man's character

are built of actions on life's field

Not from the size of his body

nor of the power that it may wield

 

Who can say they do not cherish

the idol of their childhood dream

Where they built for them an altar

from which their tiny heart then beamed

 

The traits that we adore in them

what we all wish that we could be

Sown from seeds of imperfection

and that handsome humility

 

Rising again time after time

drawing on the strength all but gone

But oh what lofty heights indeed

for us to place our laurels on

 

Author's Note

My son Tate and Daughter Aris lost their grandfather Tommy yesterday. He was a mans man. My son would come home from helping his grandpa work blistered and exhausted. Look at me and say" It's embarrassing I am in my prime and my grandfather can out work me. What is that old man made of?" He will live on in our collective memories as a man of Character.

Reviews

[Kaylor Mason]

My great-grandfather was like that. Born in 1900, worked a farm with a horse and plow to start, worked the farm through two world wars and kept working all his life. Died just a few months shy of 100, and his body was in magnificent condition from working like an ox from sunup to sundown every day of his long and happy life. May we all be so fortunate.

[Tate Morgan]

Thank you they are getting rarer and rarer to find

[joshua deathdealer]

I'm actually a grave digger now. And we dig the majority of our graves by hand because cemeteries here prefer it.. no equipment tracks tearing up the grass, ect. Anyways there was a 67 year old man named Joe, that'd had been working in the business for 50+ years and he could dig circles around any of us younger guys. He ended up retiring a few months ago and I'm telling you.. we miss him.. Joe Cool. Local Legend.

Sorry about the loss. These great men.. They truly where great.. Thanks for the share.

[Tate Morgan]

You’re welcome thank you Josh

[light and ashes]

Really lovely,
a charming and dashing tribute.

My father's mother would have to be the closest to this for me. She was a single mom of three children. It is a shame they weren't better. She was a hard worker and a good quality woman.

[Marvin Thomas Cox-Flynn..]

Tate,

This piece of your heart set to pen of page is a most fine tribute to a man who lived is life to inherit that which, I believe, is the only true essence of any Humanized sense of Eternity or an Afterlife: Being well remembered and admired by those whom you have lived your life as an example for in being well remembered and thought of as guidance handbook for their lives, their futures, and the lives of their children after you ... Excellent ...!

Marvin Thomas Cox-Flynn de Graham

[Tate Morgan]

Thank you. Tommy Was the father of my first wife grandfather to both my children. His passing was a painful event for all of us I was best friends with him and his brother as well who I met first when I was 13. I admired him I cried when he died

[Cherrie Palmer]

That's the way it was. Those men could not be out worked. Had a grandpa just like him.
I'm sorry for your loss but glad your kids were old enough to truly know him.

[Tate Morgan]

My son has an apartment with his girlfriend now and the only two pictures in his bedroom or a picture of him on my shoulders at a baseball game that he won. And him at a basketball game with his grandfather

[M. J. Smith]

Lucky kid...
My idol, if we're to describe him as such, was a fictional character. I always wanted to be Robin Hood.
Well, different worlds... I shaped my ideas of manhood on Robin Hood, King Arthur... But I could never ask them for advice.
Beautiful tribute to a good man who loomed large I think in every life he touched.

[Tate Morgan]

We think of chivalry as a badge of honor. But moreover I’ve come to believe the man who gets up every day and goes to work to feed his family and raise his children is the more honorable. As long as it is tempered with love. The rich people that I have known in my life are The ones I would say were the most miserable. Their children tried to kill themselves they had no purpose in life because they didn’t struggle they didn’t achieve

[M. J. Smith]

The code of the hills:
God first, family second, neighbors third.
This I learned on the road. The Drifter have only himself. But on rate occasions, a stranger bought me a much needed cup of coffee or offered a prayer. I try to remember that in my own life. But once in a while, I forget. Thank you for reminding me.

[Tate Morgan]

Do u have children

[M. J. Smith]

A daughter, 14 years old. Married, too. Yeah, The Drifter became a settled man! 🙂

[Tate Morgan]

Children give us a mortality. Everyone who ever lived and died and eventually passed to you their hopes and dreams will now be able to pass them to your daughter

[Unspoken poet]

our own character builds ourselves of who we are, yesterdays define us. This is very well presented. I enjoy your words.

[Tate Morgan]

Again thank you much

[Carlos Lorenzo Estrada]

This is a well written piece that reflects the content of character we should all aspire toward. Thank you for sharing your poem.

[Tate Morgan]

Thank you Carlos. Tom was a great guy

[Carlos Lorenzo Estrada]

This was a wonderful tribute to your friend, and reflects our better humanity.

[barleygirl]

Being more plain-spoken & forthright myself, I'm not a fan of the elizabethan style of transposing elements in a line, but you do this with smooth-flowing aplomb & strong rhyme/rhythm. It's a rare thing to applaud a person for having good character, so I love how you highlight this attribute mostly, among other strong traits. Family ties & honor are strongly felt here! (((HUGS))) Fondly, Margie

[Tate Morgan]

Hey Margie thanks. Character just seems to be something that is totally overlooked anymore

[barleygirl]

Amen! And to me, character is everything!

[Tate Morgan]

Same here. That’s why I liked Bernie so much