“BROTHER”
Often in Masonry, we speak endlessly about our history, the esoteric, and our ritual. All of these are important, but what about our culture? What about our art, specifically the language arts? Numerous masons have been artistically minded over the years. A quick Google search will likely lead you to find such well-known figures as Robert Burns, Rob Morris, Oscar Wilde, Rudyard Kipling, and Mark Twain. And this is just within the realm of language arts. But how much of their bodies of work is dedicated to Freemasonry? Burns has a bit, Morris has a lot, but often we don’t get past those two when we look for Masonic creative works. With that said, consider this my contribution to the art of Masonic poetry:
I was barely twenty-one,
just old enough to join.
Two weeks in,
still learning the weight of the words,
the rhythm of ritual,
the quiet gravity of belonging.
That night, I was told
I would meet the Grandmaster.
The Lodge Master said his name
like it meant something beyond the room,
beyond the cedar benches and low light.
“This is the Most Worshipful Brother…”
The name didn’t matter;
that title, though,
I was awestruck.
I stood straighter than I felt.
“I’m Frank Smith,” I said,
careful, respectful, uncertain.
“Just a Brother!”
“Hello, Just a Brother Smith,” he replied,
as if the phrase itself had been waiting for me.
“You are never ‘just’ a Brother in this craft.”
And then he let the titles fall away
like coats at the door:
“Most Worshipful, Right Worshipful, Very Worshipful…
all of it temporary clothing.”
“What remains,” he said,
“What survives the ceremony
is simple:
Brother.”
He spoke of it like a leveling wind.
“Mozart…
not genius first, not legend…
But Brother,
a man who wrote what he heard in his bones.
Washington…
not marble or monument,
But Brother,
crossing cold water,
because he believed in something unseen.
Aldrin…
not a footprint on the moon first,
But Brother,
stepping into silence,
no one had ever named before.
These men were ‘Just a Brother’,
Just like you.
I’d say you’re in good company!”
And I understood then,
or thought I did,
That rank is just arrangement,
titles just scaffolding,
and underneath all of it
is the same fragile, ordinary word
holding everything together:
Brother.
Written by: VW Daniel J Martin, 32°
Assistant Grand Lecturer, Old 17th Masonic District, Grand Lodge of New York
Worshipful Master, Bethlehem Lodge No 85, Delmar, New York
Past Most Wise Master, Rosecroix, Valley of Albany, New York, AASR, NMJ
Treasurer, Ancient Temple 5, Albany, New York, RAM
Brother, Charles Harry Copestake Council 69, AMD
Fellow, Grand College of Rites
