A Hero’s Tale
Before I lay my head to sleep
Before I pray my soul to keep
Tell me a Hero’s Tale
Tell me a story I may recall well
So I may my grandchildren tell
Speak of a man daring and true
Doing great deeds for me and you
Who does not need great powers or luck
Who relies on his skill in the times he is stuck
Sing of a warrior who lives by his creed
Who has great honor and takes care of his steed
Hold him up for the generations to see
How they should live and what they should be
Do this now as the sun sets low
As the campfire crackles and the embers glow
The time for heroes may have come and gone
But there is time yet for a ballad or song
So tell me a Hero’s Tale
For this time is brief and we must regale
Our values and virtues through a Hero’s Tale
-Michael Patrick HagEstad
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Three days after Michael left for his second semester as a freshman college student, I found this hand written poem on a piece of yellow tablet paper sitting on top of papers that were scattered on our work desk, no heads up, no "hey, I wrote something, did you read it?"
So after I noticed it, I asked him when he wrote it, and he said he couldn't sleep the night before leaving, and since he'd been mulling these words around for a while, he decided at 3:00 am to just write them down. So of course, I asked him if I can publish it on my blog, and he, of course, says "do what you have to do, mom".
