why I write

Wow, Stephan. I'm enchanted with this tribute to your ancestors as well as with the gift of writing they inspire in you. I love so many lines here. I am wild about the ending, especially the"I will burn/I will break"stanza.

Here are some nit picky suggestions that I think will make this even more great than it already is:

• The title - I'm not sure about it. It seems misleading and, in fact, I didn't read it right away because I expected something wholly different without the deep emotion.
  
• "nights" needs an apostrophe
•  the memories might be old, but they're not "ancient"
• the line break in "but the bits of pine far to the/edges" strikes me as off in some way
• I'd put the black Olds before the 42 years of wedded bliss
• If this is the intro to a bigger project, the last line works. If it isn't, the piece can stand without it.

That's it. GREAT writing!