Monday, May 26, 2008

Memorial Day Sonnet

I heard this Saturday night on a Prarie Home Companion, and managed to scribble the last line of it down to remind me to find the 'text' of it to share here. After a bit of searching...





We're here to honor those who went to war
Who did not wish to die, but did die, grievously,
In eighteen sixty-one and in two-thousand four
Though they were peaceable as you or me.
Young and innocent, they knew nothing of horror---
Singers and athletes, and all in all well-bred.
Their sergeants, mercifully, made them into warriors,
And at the end, they were moving straight ahead.
As we look at these headstones, row on row on row,
Let us see them as they were, laughing and joking,
On that bright irreverent morning long ago.
And once more, let our hearts be broken.


God have mercy on them for their heroic gift.
May we live the good lives they would have lived.
~Garrison Keillor May 29, 2004

2 comments:

Sandy said...

Wow that last line is just stunning...thanks for sharing the poem, Sarah!

Kristin said...

Have you checked this out? You might want to.