Friday, May 28, 2010

Poetry Friday: Memorial Day

Today, I'm reposting my Memorial Day poem from two years ago. And asking you to watch the TeensReadToo Book Club Blog where Rosanne Parry (Heart of a Shepherd), Suzanne Morgan Williams (Bull Rider) and I will be doing back-to-back guest blogs this weekend to honor military families.

"The past is never dead, it is not even past."
~William Faulkner~


Photographer: Adam Skoczylas 


Dedication

They have been given
flags, these children,

to plant between the stones;
decorated sticks, each insertion

point chosen with grave
care; the same care

they give to tugging lace tights onto
stiff-kneed baby dolls, building

landing craft from perforated
plastic blocks, and arraying–

piece by piece–
squads of battered

soldiers along the arms
of couch and chair.

They have been given
flags, these children.

-Sara Lewis Holmes



From RN Clara Hart's post at The Sandbox:
It’s Memorial Day and while I want to remember, I don’t want to remember. I don’t want to remember my friends killed on September 11th, or the others who've died serving our great country. Those who I’ve worked so hard to save only to fail. I don’t want to remember the broken bodies I try so hard to fix. I don’t want to remember the scarred hearts that may never be mended. Read the rest.

Poetry Friday is hosted today by Tricia at The Miss Rumphius Effect.

5 comments:

  1. Love your poem, and will look for your TeensReadToo post this weekend. Clara Hart's post is so heart wrenching.

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  2. Sara,

    Lovely poem in honor of a special day whose significance and meaning are too often forgotten.

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  3. Thanks for the beautiful reminder of why we pause on Memorial Day -- not (solely) for barbeques and the welcome of summer, but as a time to remember.

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  4. Hi Sara,

    Love "chosen with grave care"

    Clara Hart post was poignant. One of the most healing things for people who have experienced trauma like war is writing about it. See Dr. James Pennebaker's book: Opening Up: The Healing Power of Confiding in Others. Or read articles posted at: http://www.journaltherapy.com/ for more information.

    Also, some JTTS Certified Instructors specialize in working with soldiers and PTSD.

    Laura Evans
    all things poetry

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  5. Beautiful poem, love it. Nicely written!

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