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John Murray Poem
Today we do not honor hamburgers or franks
Today we offer thanks
For those who died or were maimed
To fight against evil or whatever it's named
To fight against ignorance, stupidity and vice
Or to be more precise
To fight for something grander than against,
Unrecompensed.
Today we remember those who died for a principle
For the country one and indivisible
Just one day a year, just one time to appear
Just one moment to give, by us who still live
A prayer of remembrance.
And we remember what he said, what Abraham Lincoln said:
“The dogmas of the quiet past, are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise -- with the occasion. As our case is new, so we must think anew, and act anew. We must disenthrall ourselves, and then we shall save our country.
“Fellow-citizens, we cannot escape history. We of this Congress and this administration, will be remembered in spite of ourselves. No personal significance, or insignificance, can spare one or another of us. The fiery trial through which we pass, will light us down, in honor or dishonor, to the latest generation...We -- even we here -- hold the power, and bear the responsibility.”
Remember them, remember, remember,
Remember them, America, and offer a prayer of thanks this Memorial Day
For all they have given and and all they have lost
This day and every day.
Copyright © John Murray | Year Posted 2017
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