Our hero on epitaph

our mouth owes a debt to your buried bones
a hot lead cracked in a jiffy,
  and your brain splashed~
    in the thick forest of Hanoi,
  with the stains sucked by soil
    as a flow thicker than water.
many blood stains on our flags
made too heavy for the wind to blow,
 yet draped on your casket with full honour
cleaned by the courage interred six feet below. 

many souls lost, many heroes born,
  though mostly written as epitaphs
 still posthumous respect holds on,
despite the strong winds of
forgetfulness
                   that grow like thick bushes 
                  around your grave, but      
               couldn't stop the smile 
                   in black and white,
 framed 
                               in carved oakwood.

     your M16, with the last fingerprinted round,
                  still stands beside Uncle John's M60~
                       a quiet testament that friendship
                              has risen far beyond the soil, 
                              toward the vaulted hush above,
                   where great warriors are welcomed
                        among the watchful sentinels
         of the heavenly hosts~
                              the armed battalions of angels.
Copyright © | Year Posted 2025

Poem

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Mckeithan Avatar
May 19, 2025 at 6:52 PM
Congrats on your placement in my contest Maclawrence. Powerful and poignant. Memorial Day has a personal memory for you.
Famuyiwa Avatar
May 19, 2025 at 9:01 PM
I sincerely thank you for giving my poem such a honor and thanks for hosting such a wonderful contest.
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