Something to reflect upon
Oct 17, 2002 at 10:29 PM Thread Starter Post #1 of 1

Matthew-Spaltro

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53-962 by A. Cherer Copyright 1996 all rights reserved

One hundred nine years

Passed between freedom's victory

And your defeat.

Never in my wildest dreams

Did I think the two

Would merge as one

On the lawn of one of the players

Beaten then over a century ago

That was over twenty two years ago

Like all kids

I believed things never change

Now many I love are gone

No amount of wanting it different

Stopped them from going on

Kept things the way I demanded

How do all these things go together?

I found myself thinking as I walked miles

Hobbled, my own end peeking around corners

Well at first glance I realized you left behind two parents

With decades to think where they went wrong

I was older than you; I did not know this

Holding you then to standards I learned only now

Southeast Asia: Your father had to have been there

Too many clues to think otherwise.

How could he think the danger was here, 10,000 miles away

Isn't it always this way with sacrifice?



It extends far beyond what can be seen

How your parents must grieve

Over opportunities lost

How many birthdays did he miss?

Crawling in the red dust of foreign soil.

To do all this and be ridiculed as a fool

I was the fool!

Now I can see

When your world is so weak

A child tries to act strong

But we are not antelope or deer

Or some other fast of foot

Our young find strength in speed of image

This is what brought you down

"You are the company you keep"

How could you really know that then?

One with a murderous sickness so deep would betray you

With smug satisfaction I cherished your insults

Thinking about your just desserts

Food for worm and maggot

Revenge is the poison

I was the one wounded

You were safe with

The Father of all mercy

Oh, in no way did he like what you were doing

When your heart collapsed long ago

But labels are our's not his


In fact until today,

At least regarding this matter

I was much more in danger than you

I put on uniform for God and Country

For a short time

The sacrifice of your father

And of all fathers lived in me

So in this panorama of tour mobiles and jet planes

I came to seek your forgiveness

For hating what I did not understand

In fact isn't that the essence of all evil?

How to merge things, not a poem to sell but proclaim

My greatest sin has not been avarice or lust

No I seethe in being the victim

Because of this I rejoiced at your downfall

Wanting to dance upon your remains

Tell the girls we competed for

This is what you get trying to be a new Jesse James

All because once you called me a name

With a grin on your smiling face

Then I thought your passing one of my few triumphs

Now, today, I am seeking forgiveness

At not letting myself understand

That this was a sacrifice of your father

One too often kept secret from this nation






For truly to see your son die

Because too often you could not hold him

To have him see you ride your bike the first time

All at once I knew

At first I was not going to go there

Yet, passing the sacred place of the Unknown

What should have been obvious hit me

This was not a matter of a few lost people

A few no one could figure out

No they were only symbols

A mile I must of walked

A grand panorama of our symbols

Then off to the side in an area of no interest to tourists

The truth hit me over the head

Hundreds of rows marked: " Unknown "

Most of these from just before that April long ago

The Anniversary you died on

It is not because of handshakes or favors we still are

First is the Grace of God we have not all perished in atomic fire

Being just a little bit older I remember that time did you?

No, your father like my father and myself

Came to realize a world bigger than ourselves

Many times shaken

Especially before so many April Ninths ago

All these men in blue

Lying here simply because of blood tainted blue clothing




Did they fight so I might enjoy a lifetime laughing

Saying at least that one got what he deserved

No, shamefully I must admit I love my anger

I hope today the Our Father I said with you

Will heal a fight between brothers

I wish more people could come here: alone without camera

There are no spooks or demons here

Although real, their realm is this life time

Names such as avarice, poverty, and tyranny adorn them

No, in this cynical time

It is said that no one believes in anything

Tens of thousands of stones say otherwise

Of course in the fullest sense

Most of these people did not die

In the heat of battle as you did

The battle your earthly parents must always fight

No matter when the time comes tho, old or young

Let this be our resounding canon:

To reject ideas that there is no hope borne on these

Early autumn winds amidst the trees and beacons of our freedom
 

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