To hear him speak is to know
          love for family and tradition.

Reminiscence or elegy,
          his words convey respect.

One who understands this
          will know the true value of a man.

This sijo is my response to Day 29 of National/Global Poetry Writing Month 2024 at napowrimo.net, where a list of ten words (via Merriam-Webster) found in the lyrics of Taylor Swift’s current album, “The Tortured Poets Department,” are provided and we are asked to use one of those words in the title of a poem. I am not a Swiftie, so I have substituted elegist for elegy.

Sijo (a Korean verse form related to haiku and tanka)
~ three lines of 14-16 syllables each
~ a total of 44-46 syllables
~ a pause near the middle of each line
~ first half of the line contains six to nine syllables
~ the second half should contain no fewer than five
Originally intended as songs, sijo can treat romantic, metaphysical, or spiritual themes. Whatever the subject, the first line introduces an idea or story, the second supplies a “turn,” and the third provides closure.
Modern Sijo are sometimes printed in six lines.
Read more here: Wikipedia