Memorial

[hack]

Behind some far off window
other loved ones wait
and hold back bitter tears while
they listen for the gate

A gate that will not open
to fill their hearts' content
for here their love lies bleeding
while over him, I'm bent

I reach into his pocket
and retrieve a photograph
a picture of him, and his love
smiling, on some garden path

That I could fulfill the wishes
that would carry him from here
I would take back our meeting
in this war of hate and fear


This is dedicated to the memory
of Sgt. Carlos Noe Saenz

[hillwalker]

How fitting on 'Memorial Day' (am I right? I hope so).

A wonderful little poem of honour and unselfish regret.

[PrinceMyshkin]

This is written, I suppose, in the imagined voice of his former adversary? Quite touching...

[Hawkman]

Masterful, hack. I got the same sense from it that Prince did.

Best, H

[Bar22do]

I understand it was the memorial day in US.
How noble of you to have paid tribute to those who fought while dreaming of peace... "peace" (to quote s.o. we know), dear hack. bar

[lallison]

Hi Hack,

I like the imagery in the poem. I think it was Hemingway who wrote about all the paper: notes, letters and photographs, one finds around the scene just after a battle. Little bits of who these people were, now left to speak about them after their voices failed. I guess the tale of how soldiers realize how close and how alike their enemies they are is an old one. Growing up in the deep south, I was always fascinated by the nearby Civil War battlefields and the stories that still drift around them. Nothing can epitomize stories of killing one's brother better than the story of a county at odds with itself. I enjoyed your thought provoking poem, thanks.

[hack]

For Carlos

[dafydd manton]

That brought the hairs on the back of my neck up. And, I confess, a tear to the eye. A masterly piece of work, and a fitting epithaph for Sgt Saenz. Thank you.

[Haunted]

It's so moving, Hack, and the sentiments are just beautiful. Thanks.

[hack]

Thinking of you Carlos,
Rest in Peace