Memorial Day
Spangled white stars
Flutter on a field of blue
In quiet glens and on hills
That that remember
In taps
The spirits resting
Beneath stone markers
The battle cries and hero’s lives
Their days, now without end,
Etched in granite
Their sacrifice
Protects
Freedom’s flowing wellspring
As meadows of red poppies
Call us to recall
And silently salute this eternal rollcall
Sounding an eternal reveille
To rise beyond the fields
Where battles rage.
Sleeping Quarters
By David J Walker
The V for Vet designated the sleeping quarters
For the soldiers on the small-town cemeteries roster
I can only imagine what they might say to each other
at muster of the sunrise rollcall
The ones who fired squirrel guns across state lines
The ones who met the machine guns in France
The ones who chased the monster across the Rhyne
The ones who froze at the Chosin Reservoir
The ones that manned their guns and
Held their ground at the battle of Khe Sanh
And all the ones who came home
hoping to find peace
Before they take their place beside their brothers
Where they too can tell their tales to those who understand
Beer Moore was the first volunteer
To be a Marine Engineer
When rollcall came
They called his name
And everyone answered, "Here!"
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