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Open Poetry #47
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ice
Member Elite
since 2003-05-17
Posts 3404
Pennsylvania

0 posted 2011-05-22 06:07 AM





Taking the Dover flight-
His body retrieved;
For all time, a soldier,
A would-have-been teacher,
Comes home zippered-lifeless
In a plastic body bag.
.
Out of desert heat
Into cool breezes,
That bless the hills of Liberty;
He arrives, burned
By wars eternal flame
That no one seems able
To control...or put out.




Plug the surface holes
With sealing wax-
Paint his flesh pink,
Place his body
In a polished box-
Comb it-groom-it make
It look natural --
Pretend he is asleep;

Play martial music-
Smooth the look of fright,
From the grimace on his face-
Knowing he will not wake,
And tell you horrors truth...

Carry his body, its life
Wasted at the whim
Of high command's
He swore
An oath to follow-
Honor it with stern face;
Wash with warm tears
What here is placed,
Beneath a cold stone..

Rain will dance here,
Its soft eternal feet
Will seize the days,
And dates etched on this rock;
Only the perentheses will remain

To mark this grave,
Dug in the roots-
Of rock maple trees-

Know its leaves
Will also fall-dry,
Shriveled-withering,
Long before autumn;
As does his flesh
From bones, below.

Note:
This is my Memorial day poem, written several years ago.
I lived very near the mountain community of Liberty Pennsylvania (population 868) for a very long time...so I know this young mans family and share their loss, which I think of as a loss for all mankind. I passed by him many times, while he waited for the school bus..When I try to picture his face as a child, his image turns away..all I see is a shadow... turns away, like someone you have failed.

ford

© Copyright 2011 ford hume - All Rights Reserved
Margherita
Member Seraphic
since 2003-02-08
Posts 22236
Eternity
1 posted 2011-05-22 06:12 AM


quote:
Rain will dance here,
Its soft eternal feet
Will seize the days,



Dear Ford, this is so extremely heartwrenching and poignant in its depth and intensity.

The fact that you have known Ryan makes this all the more precious.

A wonderful write that brings thoughts of the sacredness of life and the longing for peace, the longing for an end to all the atrocities ...

Thank you for this.

Love,
Margherita

JerryPat2
Member Laureate
since 2011-02-06
Posts 16975
South Louisiana
2 posted 2011-05-22 06:40 AM


You didn't fail him, Ice. I can't asses blame to anyone for his plight and the plight of so many except for the ones out there who want to destroy us.

This was very, very moving, gritty in it conception and delivery, which is the only way it could have been. Glossing things over with flowery speak would have been an insult.

Oh, Good Morning, Ice, I guess the Rapture will have to wait another day.

~ 24 hours in a day ... 24 beers in a case .... Coincidence? ~

EmmaRose
Senior Member
since 2011-03-02
Posts 1376
Midwest
3 posted 2011-05-22 09:35 AM


Yes, this is grim , even a pretty flower can't intoxicate the read too far from the sobreity of the message.
The way of the world, unfortunately without a glimmer of hope it seems that may put an end to the madness anytime soon

Nan
Administrator
Member Seraphic
since 1999-05-20
Posts 21191
Cape Cod Massachusetts USA
4 posted 2011-05-22 10:05 AM


This poem surely reflects the true meaning of Memorial Day.  Thank you for your poignant reminder.


ice
Member Elite
since 2003-05-17
Posts 3404
Pennsylvania
5 posted 2011-05-22 10:12 AM


Margherita
JerryPat
EmmaRose
Nan..

A blanket Thank You, all of your replies are greatly appreciated, and are of high value to me individualy.

I have only showed this poem to one member of his family...I am reluctant to do so, as when I read it to one of his female cousins she broke down in tears, and so did I...The emotion is just too high. I am not afraid of the truth in this, it is just that it is so damn painful..

Namaste
ford

Paul Wilson
Deputy Moderator 1 TourDeputy Moderator 1 Tour
Member Elite
since 2002-07-07
Posts 4711
United States
6 posted 2011-05-22 12:01 PM


Ice...Very touching poem. A stark reminder of all that have sacrificed everything for freedom. What distrubs me is the soldier in the picture sitting on a coffin. That is disrespectful in my book...Paul

~~To share my poems with you is to share my heart with you~~
Paul

ice
Member Elite
since 2003-05-17
Posts 3404
Pennsylvania
7 posted 2011-05-22 08:25 PM


Thank you, Paul. I never saw that the soldier was sitting on the casket..that is odd...but maybe not... if you do this over and over (shipping bodies like freight) do you become cold and disrespectful to life and death in general. Does war make you lose human sentiment?
I agree, he should not be sitting on the casket..I will look for a new picture.

passing shadows
Member Empyrean
since 1999-08-26
Posts 45577
displaced
8 posted 2011-05-22 11:35 PM


this is so sad, and I cry when I think about war and death, needless lives lost. No one I know has been taken yet but I do know quite a few men in the military. I just pray.

Paul, the picture is black and white (hard to really see clearly) and that is what I thought at first too, but I don't think he's sitting on the coffin, I think he's squatting down to tuck under the flag of the coffin in front of him. He is at the end of a coffin and since they are packed together, it looks as though he's on top of it when he's really at the end.

wonderful write Ford, I appreciate you

Paul Wilson
Deputy Moderator 1 TourDeputy Moderator 1 Tour
Member Elite
since 2002-07-07
Posts 4711
United States
9 posted 2011-05-23 07:59 AM


Ice...I believe I made a mistake thinking the soldier was sitting on a coffin.
Marghertia brought it to my attention and after looking at the picture again it does look like the soldier is just squattin down at the end of the coffin...Paul

~~To share my poems with you is to share my heart with you~~
Paul

callalily
Junior Member
since 2011-05-22
Posts 22

10 posted 2011-05-23 08:49 PM



this leaves me speechless in its sadness..very well written and expressed

Sunshine
Administrator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-06-25
Posts 63354
Listening to every heart
11 posted 2011-05-23 08:50 PM


My dear friend Ford...

I read this poem when you first posted it.

My husband flew C-130s in Viet Nam. He took me to air shows where I walked through the plane itself. He told me of his stories [after several years of marriage] yet he never showed me any photographs other than an empty plane.

All he had were his words, which were hard enough for him to share - about taking soldiers to the front - delivering foodstuff - delivering packages...taking home body bags...

he never showed me pictures like this.

It took me this long to get it all back together to say,

Thank you for your tribute. I can only imagine [read know] how difficult it was for you to compose yourself long enough to bequeath such an eloquent eulogy/memorial to Ryan.

Bless you for reminding us...for even those of us who "know" still need to "know" that our fallen are not, and will not be forgotten.

I might pray that this poem find its way around the world, in memory.

Warm - God bless you.

Sunshine


ice
Member Elite
since 2003-05-17
Posts 3404
Pennsylvania
12 posted 2011-05-23 09:36 PM


Passing shadows..
Thank you for reading, and pointing out that the picture is probably ok.
-----------------------------------------
Paul--
Thanks for checking back
------------------------------------------
Callalily--
"speechless in its sadness" indeed, that is a perfect way to describe it..thank you.
--------------------------------------------
Karilea...
"I might pray that this poem find its way around the world, in memory."

This summer,
I plan to put a prayer wheel on the arbor
as you enter my side garden..
I will place this and other poems
in with the hudreds of others,
on bits of paper, that come with the wheel.
When I pass it I will spin it,
which will send all the prayers inside
out into the universe.
------------------------------------------
Peace to all of you, and to all that you love.


"

icebox
Member Elite
since 2003-05-03
Posts 4383
in the shadows
13 posted 2011-05-24 10:42 PM


Well written.  

The price of war never changes.

ice
Member Elite
since 2003-05-17
Posts 3404
Pennsylvania
14 posted 2011-05-25 12:57 PM


Thank you for reading and the reply..You are correct, and the price is always extremely high..

ice, plain ice, no box

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