Memorial Day Poems

As I referenced in another post, Memorial Day commemorates the men and women who serve and have served our country in the armed forces. So while we are chowing down on burgers and beer this weekend, let's all take a moment of reflection to respect what Memorial Day is all about.

There have been several poems written about Memorial Day. Here is one I found from titled "Facing It" by Yusef Komunyakaa, a veteran of the Vietnam War. More poems can be found here at the Huffington Post.

My black face fades,
hiding inside the black granite.
I said I wouldn't,
dammit: No tears.
I'm stone. I'm flesh.
My clouded reflection eyes me
like a bird of prey, the profile of night
slanted against morning. I turn
this way--the stone lets me go.
I turn that way--I'm inside
the Vietnam Veterans Memorial
again, depending on the light
to make a difference.
I go down the 58,022 names,
half-expecting to find
my own in letters like smoke.
I touch the name Andrew Johnson;
I see the booby trap's white flash.
Names shimmer on a woman's blouse
but when she walks away
the names stay on the wall.
Brushstrokes flash, a red bird's
wings cutting across my stare.
The sky. A plane in the sky.
A white vet's image floats
closer to me, then his pale eyes
look through mine. I'm a window.
He's lost his right arm
inside the stone. In the black mirror
a woman's trying to erase names:
No, she's brushing a boy's hair.