Poem of the Week: The Grass Is Damp

By Barb Whitmarsh

Bayou City ll Branch, Texas 

 

The grass is damp with crystalline dew

Orderly white gravestones

They’re wet too

The flags are lowered

Until dawn

What leaps past it all?

A tiny fawn

Innocence growing bolder

Not a chance

For our lost soldiers

With lives ahead

No matter what for

But they were taken

In chaotic war

Cry, yes cry, spill your tears

Life moves forward

For many years

And if you cannot

Bow in prayer

Show in some other way

You care

Whisper endearing words

That many dear brothers

Never heard

Pat some markers

No matter the ranks

For all we can truly give —

Is thanks

4 comments

  1. Thank you for this thoughtful and timely poem. My favorite part is the line about patting some markers. The image is so kind and loving, and it adds a tactile element that gives the poem more weight. I hope you will find somewhere to share this poem again next Memorial Day, as it deserves to be read many more times.

  2. sara etgen-baker says:

    appropriate for this time of year….even giving silent thanks honors those who’ve protected our freedoms

  3. Charlene Holloway says:

    A truly remarkable poem with kind and compassionate wording to honor our fallen members of our armed forces.

Comments are closed.