Memorial Day

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: POLITICS & LIFE

 

Memorial

 

We bear witness at the nation’s burial ground

Row upon row of sacred white markers

Tributes to the fallen of war

 

For many years we remember them

We salute their courage

We mourn their solemn sacrifice

 

They fought in the nation’s wars

Many had no choice

The nation called and they answered

As their fathers and grandfathers did

As their ancestors did

As they were supposed to do

As they were trained to do

 

Theirs was to do or die

Not to ask why

 

Then came Vietnam and we did ask why

We stood and marched in protest

We refused to serve

We burned our draft cards

We demanded an end to unjust war

 

Still we salute and pray

For those who served and fell

We remember their faces as long

As our memories allow

We remember their names

We tell their stories

And we fall silent

 

We fall silent and wonder

If only to ourselves

What might have been

Had they not been called to war