Photo by Chad Madden, Unsplash
Photo by Chad Madden, Unsplash
This is not a day of celebration but a day of expressing grief and sorrow, a day to ruminate about the horrors of war and give thanks to the brave and willing.
I remember as a boy scout
marching in Memorial Day parades
we were not selling anything
nor were we glorifying war
we were learning its horrors
We just marched through
the streets of my hometown
shoes polished and uniforms pristine
honoring fallen soldiers
Today I saw Memorial Day sales
wondering at their true meaning
watching ghouls selling anything
they can get their hands on
Maybe Boeing has fighter jets on sale
for the weekend and you can roll
on in and take a test drive
bring your pilot’s license
and proper insurance coverage
of course
Maybe the Lockheed Martin Corporation
or the Raytheon Company
has their guided missiles on sale
bogo buy one missile
get a second missile free
two missiles for the price of one
I can see the commercials now
with some militaristic Cal Worthington
who hawked cars for a living
selling tanks and munitions
at Memorial Day discounts
What kind of commercials
bask in the memories of the fallen
This is not a day to celebrate
it is a day of mourning
and pledging allegiance
not just to flags
but to men and women
who gallantly performed
their duties until death do us part
This is not a day of celebration
but a day of expressing grief and sorrow
a day to ruminate about the horrors of war
and give thanks to the brave and willing
It is a day to memorialize—Memorial Day
Lawrence George Jaffe is an internationally known and an award-winning writer, author, and poet. For his entire professional career, Jaffe has been using his art to promote human rights. He was the poet-in-residence at the Autry Museum of Western Heritage, a featured poet in Chrysler’s Spirit in the Words poetry program, co-founder of Poets for Peace (now Poets without Borders) and helped spearhead the United Nations Dialogue among Civilizations through Poetry project which incorporated hundreds of readings in hundreds of cities globally using the aesthetic power of poetry to bring understanding to the world.
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