Memorial

Dark clouds scuttle heavy and full cold wind biting at the exposed flesh brown grass crusted with rotten snow abandoned Park ignored by those passing by often passing fleeing quickly by thoughts of the meaning rotting deep inside feelings long festered buried deep within fear of them escaping and being then expressed eyes still riveted in this passing by aching heart swollen needing to be there pausing in the journey turning in alone emptiness waiting abandoned by them all footsteps halting accented by tapping cane hesitantly approaching what does there lie downward cast looking wanting not to see fearfully gazing at last on what lies there cold stone line emboss with tarnished brass forgotten words stated speaking of the loss memories are not captured here in what does lie pain wrote within the soul of the gazing eye cane falls from fingers numb clatters to the ground lie in there at the feet in the now of long walks to the school learning of forgotten wars playground games of baseball against the other team neighborhood boys together played in the street in front of our homes of the dreams in high school that would never be TV watching as numbers called deciding each of our fates families crying in despair at numbers way too low childhood friends too young to be men marching off to war evening news watched by all of the awful toll trembling as the tears rolled down choking back the sobs bending down to lift the cane and turn and stumble away forgotten now names etched in brass faded memories now torn a new blood in memory does flow