Memorial Days Past and Present

MEMORIAL DAY 1957

White sky, shimmering as it salutes the day of commemoration.

Decoration Day, 1957

Begins at the court house in Dixon

With Taps and an echo.

Old men and young men,

Proud men and broken men,

Sit with their families and friends,

Sweltering in the early morning heat.

They gather in thankfulness,

Or sorrow,

Or both.

Memories of the Great War are carried with pride.

Memories of the Not So Great War are carefully tucked away,

In secret pains that no bottle can erase.

But they try.

I long to see a maple tree leaf turn inside out.

I pray for a storm as sweat drips into my eyes.

Carefully, my lips meet the mouthpiece

And I begin to play Taps.

MEMORIAL DAY 2012

An old man sits alone,

Eight thousand feet above sea level.

Appreciating white-framed peaks

Seen through pine tree filters.

Crisp breezes temper the sun’s heat.

Sixty-eight years of memories

Spread out against the rocks.

Good memories and painful ones,

Examined with white gloved care.

High country silence,

Accompanied by an occasional Mountain Jay,

Frame his celebration of peace,

His celebration of solitude,

His celebration of his life so far.