Veterans’ Cemetery
The
ceremonies of the day have ceased,
Abandoned
to the ragged crow’s parade.
The
flags unravel in the caterpillar’s feast.
The
wreaths collapse onto the stones they shade.
How
quietly doves gather by the gate
Like
souls who have no heaven and no hell.
The
patient grass reclaims its lost estate
Where
one stone angel stands as sentinel.
The
voices whispering in the burning leaves,
Faint
and inhuman, what can they desire
When
every season feeds upon the past,
And
summer’s green ignites the autumn’s fire?
The
afternoon’s a single thread of light
Sewn
through the tatters of a leafless willow,
As
one by one the branches fade from sight,
And
time curls up like paper turning yellow.
-- Dana Gioia
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| Golden Gate National Cemetery |
2 comments:
I think it should be mandatory that our elected "officials" should ALL have served, or are serving, in the military!
Yeah. When pigs fly, eh?
That's a good poem! I like the dove part.
This year I really thought about Veteran's Day and the school kids did, too.
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