On this Memorial Day

Hi everyone,

I wrote this poem three years ago at the suggestion of my friend and colleague, TIM RASINSKI, Ph.D, professor emeritus of literacy education at Kent State University. Thanks to Tim for posting the poem each Memorial Day since then. I believe that today you will also find this on the Missouri Arts Council page. And now, finally, I’m posting my poem here. To all who have served our country, thank you.

Thank you

I don’t know you,
but I know who you are.
You are my hero.

You were someone’s son,
daughter, husband, wife,
someone’s mommy, someone’s daddy…
and then one day you were called away,
left your life behind, left
all you loved, all you meant to do, to be.

I see you at a concert.
You stand, when asked, to be identified.
Until that moment I didn’t know,
you are my hero.

I stand before a memorial, 
try to imagine the names as real people,
as alive as I am now,
facing impossible odds
that turned them into names etched
into a burnished stone wall.
I rub my fingers across the letters.
I can never know them,
but I know who they are.
They are my heroes.

© 2021 by David L. Harrison, all rights reserved