Memorial Day - 1935 (A Child's View)

MEMORIAL DAY – 1935 (a child’s view) The City Giant buildings against a clear, blue, morning sky And the black-tar street flying by beneath his feet Cars Old cars new Army trucks Lined-up half-way-up Capitol Hill The city rumbled shook! The air all blue-gray smoke People running Walking fast rushing past All he could feel with his dizzy senses was his father’s hand And at the point three streets converge Standing waiting Steel helmets blasting in the morning sun Rifles long with gleaming bayonets 500 men A military band just rounding the corner Bass drum pounding cadence Ready to join the parade That beat pounding cadence in his chest Further down downtown The drone the music of a hundred engines Fifty bands Sound of fifty thousand cheering As the long Memorial Day Parade marched by