Greater love hath no man than this: than to lay down his life for his friends.
– John 15:13
.
Fallen,
you stand tall
still
strong white teeth
in a sea of green
reflecting sun and shadow
silenced too soon,
brought home too late.
We say God Bless America
We wave, leave flags
We ahem past lump in throat
and go on with our lives
hearts gasping, grasping
for the words to say
thank you
for giving yours.
.
Written for dVerse.
Whimsygizmo's Blog 
thank you seems so limited in what they gave….i have sttod in that field and it is solemn…i hope we do take time today to honor them…
Tears and sadness for this fate that seems so wrong to me. You wrote this with such a strong voice of truth, De. I wrote risking that some might read me wrong but that is always a risk so…to the wind! Happy day to you! 🙂
Thank You !
yes, a holy Yes!
I can see I’m going to need to break this into reading a few poems at a time…this is so heart-rending. I like how you reference Jn.
Beautiful, simple, heartfelt. Thank you
Beautiful…
Also shared over at Imaginary Garden with Real Toads Open Link Monday:
http://withrealtoads.blogspot.com/2012/05/open-link-monday_28.html
ah, there’s what I was looking for! 🙂
i hope that you’re having a wonderful holiday weekend, and thanks for sharing your tribute with us over at Toads Open Link Monday, De.
Also, hope you don’t mind, but… I’m linking back to my own Memorial Day tribute — “The Last Casualty”. :-]
Yes those words are hard to say. The image of the teeth in the grass creates one of those stop-start moments in poetry. I couldn’t go past it until I had read it again and fully absorbed it.
Awesome write! And so very true.
http://charleslmashburn.wordpress.com/2012/05/22/the-thunder-rolls/
So well done, a tribute to any who served anywhere…!
Ah, speaking to the stones becomes speaking to the person. I have stood there and done that. You captured it. Thank you.
i love how you describe the gravestones as white teeth
four memorial day senryu
Thank you doesn’t seem enough ~ Lovely words ~
So true… a nice memorial!
Yes – thank you for dying for me does seem inadequate at times doesn’t it? Well-put de.
Yeah…..thats one pointy stick…great job.
You have captured the difficulty so well, how to say thank you for their loss of life. Well done.
Beautifully said!
Beautiful De
How do we ever say thank you to someone who died so that we could live a life they could not? Summed up perfectly by, ” We ahem past lump in throat “
You did it again! Very.. sniffle..nice
Any words said to / about one who has lost his/her life in service to his /her country seem so very shallow. Such a loss….for so many. And forEver.
silent teeth… what an image.
beautiful, de.
I read this Monday and thought it was perfect. Sometimes there is not much more to say than the simplest of phrases “I’m sorry” or “thank you” — they do suffice when truly felt, and that’s what I thought of this poem.