TO REMEMBER IN MAY
May is a month of remembrance holidays. . . enough so that it’s hard to do justice to all of them.
I’d like to pay special attention to one this month: Memorial Day, the last Monday in May. This holiday alone, among all others on the calendar, humbles us with its gravity and import. For one short day we pause to honor the sacrifices made by thousands and thousands of combatants who served under conditions no civilian has to endure. For many, their courage to face battle for our protection was rewarded with death––sometimes immediate and gruesome, sometimes over many years, from mental or physical wounds sustained.
With this poem, I honor two soldiers in particular …and all those who died in service to us. We will never let you be forgotten.
ODE TO AN AMERICAN WARRIOR
Two ... ramrod ... Marines ... march
in perfect cadence, turn slowly, and again,
salute us, and unfurl the flag, one layer after another.
They hold it full before us as if to shield us
from the sight of the rifles that return their salute,
as if to say the loss is so great it can only be glimpsed through a veil.
The shock of the noise brings instant tears to our eyes, and
for a moment, we sense –in your skin– the first horror of battle.
The clap! of gunshot, shell casings hit the ground, gunpowder smoke drifts....
The bugle notes fade... our muffled sobs, the only sound.
We survived another day. But you’ve left us, gone to see what lies ahead.
Stunned by the shock of your departure, we stand silent, not knowing what to do.
Brothers-in-arms re-fold the flag, present the colors, salute, turn...
...and lift you in white-gloved hands. They mount the hill, placing you gently to rest
in a white granite wall, somber echo of a black wall where you knelt to mourn your friends.
We climb the hill for one last touch, running fingers over the engraved letters
of your name and credo etched below. One by one, we pause to read the words you lived:
“Semper Fi.” Always Faithful. In every way, you were the most steadfastly faithful of us all.
Broken and wounded by that awful war, you stooped and lifted many others
––as broken as you––on your broad and patient shoulders, giving them hope to carry on.
Farewell, good soldier. Godspeed, true friend. Yours now, the hard-earned joy of peace forever....
©copyright 2019 by Jayne M. Adams
Let us ––the fortunate beneficiaries of their sacrifice––renew our gratitude to them each May, if not daily––by a private thought, an earnest prayer, a decorated grave, some mark of profound respect.