12/17/2019
To all my friends and brothers
A great story/poem
“The Men Who Wear Those Mason Rings”
Those men who help my dad each day,
they wear those mason rings –
a Square and Compass set in gold,
the praise of which I sing.
My dad, he hurt his back you know,
one cold and wintry day.
He slipped and fell upon the ice,
the insurance would not pay.
And since that time, those rings I see
on hands that help us much,
with mowing lawns and hauling trash,
each day my heart they touch.
They even built a house for me
amid our backyard tree,
where all the neighbour kids
would play with laughter full of glee.
My mom, she cried from happiness,
the time the Masons came
to aid our family in distress
without a thought of gain.
And when I’m big, just like my dad,
of this it must be told:
I want to wear a ring like his,
A Square and Compass gold.
Long years have passed since when
my dad was in that plaster cast,
and since I swore that Solemn Oath
which unites us to the last.
But more than that, I’m proud to say
I wear his Mason ring –
the one dad wore for many years,
until his death this Spring.
And one last time his comrades came
to aid my weeping mother.
They praised and bid a fond farewell
to our fallen Brother.
And after which, my son did ask
about their Aprons white,
and of the rings upon their hands,
of gold so shiny bright.
With tearful eyes, I said with pride,
they’re men of spirit pure,
those men who wear those Mason rings –
of that you can be sure.
And before he went to bed that night,
the family he foretold:
Someday, I’ll wear a ring like Dad’s,
a Square and Compass gold
By
Michael R. Strampe, P.M.,
Lake Lodge No. 189, F.&A.M., Milwaukee, WI
