Memorial Day, 2016 American soldiers dead,
their history forgotten
except by those who knew and loved them,
their roots in pride and patriotism,
in family, as sons and daughters, siblings and spouses.
Blane D. Bussell, 2016.
Another Memorial Day, a day to memorialize.
And here we meet at a Memorial to memory,
neither antiwar memorial nor peace,
neither pride nor shame,
neither beauty nor duty,
but merely a place of cleansing remembrance.
John D. Gerrie, 2016.
Matthew Q. McClintock, 2016.
Another Memorial Day, like a star in the universe.
One star among many, a dim light amongst the dark,
too dim to be seen in Washington, DC,
too dim to be seen in Baghdad or Kabul,
way too dim to be seen in Syria,
way way too dim for ISIL.
Nathaniel H. McDavitt, 2016.
Louis F. Cardin, 2016.
Charles H. Keating IV, 2016.
David A. Bauders, 2016.
Another Memorial Day, a candle in the night.
Our leaders see it as an enemy in search of us,
our Congress sees it as mirage, ghostly unreal,
our generals see it as a threat, a fatal weakness,
most Americans do not see it at all, myopic, blind.
Connor A. McQuagge, 2016, age 19.
Another Memorial Day, another name,
one more but not the last in 2016,
only last until another day, another night,
another candle shining light on an entire Hill of names,
thousands among millions more I cannot name —
tens of thousands of Afghan civilians dead,
millions of Iraqi civilians dead,
children, children, children dead,
children I do not know,
children I will never know,
children just like mine, and I cannot name a single one.
Yet a desert star shining brightly in their desert night
also shines on us and our sun shines down on them,
both to light the Way from the Cradle to our Hill,
from a beginning to an end,
which our Hill must be if we are ever to know their names,
for they are here.
Our soldiers are here.
On our Hill. Today.
Memorial Day. Memories.
Remember them Stars in the universe.
Candles in the night.
Sunlight. I do not know their names,
but I know ours,
and ours on Memorial Day
the same as theirs — say one, say all.
Fred Norman’s book, A Hill of Poems, is a collection of the poems he has written and read each year on Memorial Day and Veterans Day at the The Crosses of Lafayette in California.
The memorial is a visible reminder of the thousands of American soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. The property which can be seen from the freeway was donated by Johnson and Louise Clark. Since the fall of 2006, volunteers install a cross for each soldier, maintain the site, and regularly update a large sign with the number of deaths. The twice yearly events include music, poetry readings, and speeches to pay respect to those who have died and continue to die in these wars.
Fred Norman, born in 1936, is a veteran with ten years of service in the Marines and Air Force. After the military he went to college and majored in Chinese Studies and later obtained an MA in Writing. He has worked for newspapers, taught, and had a job in programming before he retired. He is a poet for peace. All the sales from his book go to maintenance for the Crosses of Lafayette.
Fred Norman’s Book, A Hill of Poems
Fred Norman Poetry at the Lafayette Crosses
Interview with Poet Fred Norman
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