Beauty
One
From
The time
Of wonder
Beauty within
Faded in realm
Gone with you taken my
Love of life with beauty
Beauty of soul no matter
That was the matter of soul and body
the sun is happier to see me than my mother
appreciating her joy of me I take a seat
loving what she adds to my day
happy bird speak reiterates my feelings of well-being
this is Memorial Day weekend
a three-day holiday usually filled with dreary rain
the fuzzy bee balm is barely moving on her stalks
she usually attracts bumblebees, but not today
it is a breezy cheery Saturday
sun warmed and enthusiastic
I pick up my pen
preparing to write something
maybe this
Value people when they have life
Strangely, people understand lately
Everything is loud and clear, yet blinds
Still, people find it challenging, but why? honestly
Wait, let’s unpack the fact.
Dead people do not speak
Neither response is to pick a fight
They are calm and quiet
Due to which they candlelight
Celebrate the opponent's flight
Words flow with compassion disguised
The love poured out seamlessly
Memorial services filled with sighs
If he wakes up again endlessly?
All the love talks bag up sky’s
Life goes on as usual
Two kinds live in the world.
Loving people keep loving
Evil people keep hating.
Living in a broken world
NOVEMBER 2022
Rightly so, the poppies flood
Early in the winter sky
Merrily stood in field, and this
Existence of mine has passed by
Maybe they'd watch us contend
But are authorities ever sober?
Early now, in Winter's sky
Realise how they owed her
Unwillingly ignorant to the loss, they'll be
Scorching their retinas, a veil of red
Oh Liza, dear Liza. My plane’s going down.
I’m somewhere over the Pacific, but there's nobody around.
Nobody to watch as this hunk of metal falls
No one to weep as these blaring alarms stall.
Dear Liza, my Liza. Now I’m going down.
It’s not valiant or brave like you hear of in town.
There was no gunfire, I’m just out on patrol
But the engines went out and I’ve lost all control.
My Liza, sweet Liza. They won’t write this down.
My story will end the moment I drown.
The air force and navy won’t chant my name
I’ll be just another body that disappeared with his plane.
Sweet Liza, strong Liza. I know I’ve let you down.
I promised I’d come home safe and sound.
They won’t have a body, for I’m lost out at sea
You’ll open the door, hoping it’s me.
Strong Liza, please Liza. Try not to fall down.
Their job is to bring news, not stop widows’ frowns.
They’ll hand you a flag and give all their thanks
It’ll have to be enough to take my place.
Please Liza, oh Liza. Tell them my name.
For I won’t get the credit or share any fame.
I fought in no battles, my kill count is zero
I’m just a name on a stone in a yard full of heroes.
One day a year to mark a sacrifice profound
One day a year to visit the ground
One day a year for the bugle to sound
One day a year a nation’s memory is found
Hardly enough for the terrible cost
Hardly enough for the lives that were lost
One day a year for the flags to adorn
One day a year the fallen to mourn
One day a year that honors our fallen
One day a year the nation is all in
Hardly enough for those left behind
Hardly enough is just being kind
Each day of the year they manned the wall
Each day of the year they served through it all
Each day of the year standing brave and tall
Each day of the year until the final fall
One day of the year to remember the valor
Hardly enough when measured by the pallor
Of the faces who bled and the families who suffer
So one day a year
One day a year
One day a year
Is hardly enough for
Duty
Honor
Sacrifice
Remember it all and never forget
For one day a year is all that they get
Each year Memorial Day causes much lament,
and today will be viewed as another life recap.
A day we honor heroes whose lives were spent,
who, for freedom, willingly stood in the gap.
Too many families are attached to someone,
who served country and didn’t return intact.
Body bags, their ticket home to a loved one,
today, they remember that door knock’s impact.
Duty calls from valleys deep and wide,
Wide like hearts where brave resolve does bide.
Bide the storms, through fire and endless rain,
Rain of trials met with a calm refrain.
Refrain from fear when darkness clouds the sky,
Sky holds hope where eagles dare to fly.
Fly with honor carved in steel and soul,
Soul forged firm in sacrifice and role.
Role of country’s shield in battle’s fire,
Fire of freedom fed by hearts’ desire.
Desire to serve with valor, strong and true,
True to flags in red and white and blue.
Blue, the banner waving high above,
Above all stands their country, duty, and love.
© Dr. Joseph S. Spence, Sr., USA (Epulaeryu Master). All Rights Reserved (May 25, 2025).
On the radio I heard
A statement that I found absurd.
It described today’s parade
Where tributes are routinely made
To soldiers who have served and died,
Who’ve earned our gratitude and pride.
“These troops fought hard so on this date
We all can meet and celebrate
The freedom that they helped fulfill
By eating burgers from the grill.”
I get that it’s symbolic, yet
No soldier would, I’d surely bet,
Risk life and limb or wounds to heal
So we could barbecue a meal.
That said, we all should take a pause
To think of all who fight because
They do a job and know each breath
Could bring them grief or harm or death.
This holiday, each one who serves
Should get the honor he deserves.
Today my thoughts are on Master Sergeant Joe D.
my brother who was four years younger than me.
Growing up Brother Joe was always the battler,
he took no one’s “stuff” and was never a prattler.
At twenty one I entered and Brother Joe came soon,
to the Army’s ways Joe seemed to quickly attune.
He rose to Master Sergeant in his twenty-three years,
four tours in Nam kept family in prayer and tears.
He was highly decorated and many proclaimed a hero,
but when life all boiled down it amounted to zero.
He disappeared from family for thirty plus years,
all this time we searched, prayed, and shed tears.
For his country he did things he couldn’t forget,
then died lost from family, in a sea of regret.
Joe isn’t there but a headstone marks his spot,
to remind of his surviving the Viet Cong onslaught.
His life is a shadowbox that hangs on our wall,
I’m reminded of Joe each time I enter the hall.
So today, I pray that for life choices he did atone,
as for me, Joe will never become as a forgotten stone.
Soldiers in all military
Sacrifice for you and me
Risking their lives for our own
These heroes need to be shown
We won't forget all they've done
Every daughter every son
That is here or passed away
Is remembered every day
The day is solemn
time to reflect
a thankfulness for sacrifice
Flags placed to honor
Names carved on stone
Dates of lives gone
Grace and silent prayers
No need for spoken words
shed a few tears
White crosses far to many
numbering those lost
who gain us this day of remembrance
The Quiet screams louder than a thousand bombs
rapid screech of gun fire
explosion of a grenade
the agony cry of a bayonet piercing life
hand to hand combat as the knife stabs through the heart
the dead lying silent on a bloody battlefield
Deafening sound of war.
We are here for the few that go
our way of life lives by the lost of their souls
we speak through their silence
Scripture read, prayer said, Taps bugle calls
tears flow
The Quiet.
Day to remember those who perished
In wars and skirmishes abroad
Let their images be cherished
By those who knew them from the squad
To pin a pennant of "Old Glory"
In earth where heroes lay in rest
Their lives were short, but what a story
May their memories be blessed
Let's honor them as time is going
We move afar from battles fought
They gave it all, and we're bowing
Our heads; in angst, respect and thought
May 26, 2025
Memorial Day marks the passage of time
Of valor in battles remembered sublime
A quiet flashback of a personal loss
And fiery fields one was dashing across
The action, the sound and bright flare light
The odor of danger in faraway night
The luck and misfortune, all hell breaking loose
Adrenaline high one cannot reproduce
Forever with you, war leaves no one alone
A recent or distant, remembrance zone
For all who have perished, a prayer reserved
Memorial Day evokes those who served
© 2022
It comes in flash, as face or sound
In fleeing memory of yore
Young bucks in green when mission-bound
The whumps of distant bombing roar
The scenes in large and small details
All etched in memory for life
And booby traps on jungle trails
With no reprieve from deadly strife
So gone, forgotten, shelved and filed
Yet it returns from abyss deep
Flashback to times really wild
Makes you wake up from fragile sleep
Another year summer's here
Remember all who went away
Who lived and died, confronting fear
Salute our vets, Memorial Day
May 23, 2024
Specific Types of Memorial Day Poems
Definition | What is Memorial Day in Poetry?
Poems Related to Memorial Day
war, veteran, death, friend, friendship, america, usa, may 25, holiday, united states, observances