This is my longest free-verse poem concerning the lives of my grandparents and parents who lived lives of quiet heroism under great adversity, never giving in to despair or wallowing in self-pity. They are all made of far stronger stuff than I, and I consider each of them my personal unsung heroes.

I wrote this poem (still ongoing) and published the first four parts that concern my grandparents' lives before, during, and after the Spanish Civil War. Parts five and six were published in my second book of poems, Echoes of Dawn at Dusk, and concern the lives of my parents. These last two were written immediately after the death of each of my parents under painful, tragic circumstances as part of my grieving process. In life I always turn to poetry in times of great personal struggle and loss. It is one of the ways I deal with pain, loss, disappointment and the angst of a life that does not always go as we would hope.

I will post the six parts of this poem individually and also a link to my reading of it in my Spotify blog.

If you listed to these as I hope you will, I trust you will reflect on your own unsung heroes which, unlike the mega-popular ones raised up (very often for all the wrong reasons) you are certain to find all around you, and very close to home, living lives of unheralded, quiet heroism and all too often acknowledged by those closest to them only when they realize the vacuum left by their passing on all those whose lives they touched and enriched by their presence and example.