The Nature of Things

The black granite wall with 58,000+ names in white that is the Vietnam Memorial, monument to the men and women who gave their lives for this country in that needless war that was the defining issue for my generation.   Memorial Day 2014. Again we pause to remember those who have fought for this country and have given their lives in its service. Including those who fought in wars that maybe shouldn't have been fought, like Vietnam or Iraq, but nevertheless answered the call when their country needed them. Memorial Day is especially meaningful this year as we contemplate the scandal surrounding the apparent failure of our Veterans Administration to adequately serve those who survived their wars and came home to broken promises. Poetry cannot heal the pain we feel for their loss and for ours, but perhaps it can express it more succinctly and clearly than prose. Here are two poems for this Memorial Day. At the Vietnam Memorial BY  GEORGE BILGERE The last time I saw Paul Castle it...

Memorial Day. It's not just a day off from work. It is a day to remember those who have made the ultimate sacrifice in the service of our country. Let us honor that service and that sacrifice today and every day.

GRASS by Carl Sandburg, 1918 PILE the bodies high at Austerlitz and Waterloo. Shovel them under and let me work-- I am the grass; I cover all.    And pile them high at Gettysburg And pile them high at Ypres and Verdun. Shovel them under and let me work. Two years, ten years, and passengers ask the conductor: What place is this? Where are we now?    I am the grass. Let me work. HAVE A SAFE AND HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND AND NEVER FORGET WHAT WE COMMEMORATE WITH THIS HOLIDAY. DON'T LET THE GRASS COVER OUR MEMORIES.