Poem

I sat in the ACS bleachers on Saturday to watch two hours of alumni basketball games, but I lost it a bit when they gathered to sit for a group photograph. That image summoned up another; equally as poignant.


Thankful Village*


I’m sorry, but when the boys,
all nearly men, sat
for their group photo; all
stained with sweat and grinning,
I could not help but think
of those British towns
that sent for glory, but lost
to the waste of war
whole generations of young men.

Be grateful boys
and celebrate as often as you can
the gift and magic
of your running galloping lives
which are so unlike the crosses
that reach into the distance at Verdun
as you do now, smiling
tier on tier
within these thankful years at home.


* The term popularized for the 32 settlements in England and Wales in which all those soldiers who left to serve in WWI came home again.