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Yesterday was Veterans Day

Gate to Seoul

Yesterday was Veterans Day
There were parades
And people thanked me for my service
There were deals and meals all over town
If I wanted to pursue them
But I stayed home

To me yesterday will always be Armistice Day
The wars of my lifetime simply do not compare
And while every person who served is valuable
Some sacrificed more than others
When I dwell on this I feel guilty

Perhaps it is best to know that yesterday was Remembrance Day
Now that is an idea that I can get behind
Spending time in votive contemplation
On those who sacrificed all
But Americans do that in May as we memorialize the loss

So, what can we do with Veterans Day?
We must make each day a day to be grateful
For all that we have
And a memorial to all that we lost along the way
Yesterday was Veterans Day
But today I look at my bundle of silk, paper, and plastic poppies
Collected over the years
And I realize the power of remembrance.

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For Them

soldiers

For those who died in muddy fields
or pressed on through the jungle
or those that fought up rocky hills
and found eternal slumber

They served, some died
they knew the deal
that blood secures our time
that freedom’s bells will peal

But now we cannot stand alone
apart from one another
we have to help each other up
as sisters and as brothers

A house divided cannot stand
a lesson paid in blood
we’ll have to learn another time
if we betray their trust

For those who served and only wept
instead of being buried
Who wait and wonder if
we forgot why they stood for us

We need to pay them back in coin
that only patriots earn
with unity and loyalty
to the Union that they served

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Red White and Blue Glare

 

Gate to Seoul

Independence Day
In a military town
Filled with fireworks
Real and metaphorical

Sitting on the patio
With the family
As rockets burst
Beautiful melancholy

Emotional displays
Remembering our freedoms
Our victories
And our losses

Sipping away the evening
In brilliant flashes
Celebrating America
Understanding the cost

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Humanity (choose your own adventure)

Rescue

Can we reach our better side
bringing hard work to new visions
or are we only fight or flight?

Thoughts and prayers sent up the flue
papering over our divisions
all the hate we thought was through

We are made of contradiction
making peace is part of us
but fighting wars is our tradition

We are conflicted, we are still one
a little hope would be a plus
it seems so long ere the day is done

We can act with malice and spite
or press forgiveness to our hearts
fighting upwards to the light

Isolation in a divided nation
our brains are made for social smarts
stewing in our own frustration

All alone in our four walls
will our future be secure
drifting sadly through drafty halls

Turn to the very last page
willful pique or mindless cure
will it be peace or curdled rage?