Fading Drumbeats

Long past war’s fading drumbeats And beyond the miasmic mists of time Run undercurrents that displace peace And fancied futures hoped sublime. Once staccato beats of war drums abate Far from war graves and their dead, We find loved ones’ dismal fates And lonely lives now filled with dread. Soldier’s sojourn in the dash dividing Dates on their eroding tombstones Remind us that their lives, though exciting, Ended not with hope but love unsown. Once draftee’s dreams become forgotten And their past romances are long since lost, All that remains is what God left them And scars they earned at frightful costs. We too, wonder what will become of us And we hope to pass our test divine Once life’s abating hoofbeats leave us And we’re enveloped by the fog of time. Who will remember who we were? Who will proclaim, “I KNEW THEM WELL?” Who will stop and silently ponder What our tombstone epitaphs fail to tell.