Memorial Day

[eagle326]

Sitting here remembering days forgone
Coffee black with touch of Jack
As the creatures of the night
Seek their day time beds :

Slowly as night gives way to day
Through the mist of the coming dawn
I see the figures in the distance fields
Coming again to sit and chat :

Each passing year
At this appointed time
We sit and speak of times long past
Some of joy ; Some of pain
Some of living ; some sublime :

Woodstock ; Tramp ; Drake and Dew
Stephen White ;my brother Bill and Ghost came too
To see them now
Is to see them then
Young and bold with peaceful souls
Every year's longer before I see them again :

We hug ; chat ; smile and cry
Between the night
Till break of day
We live as one before we part ways :

Birds begin to sing
And squirrels begin to play
As the night time mist slowly rolls away
And soon the dawn of a new day :

As always I try to hide
The eternal clock that takes them away
But the portal of eternity slowly arrives
To escort them back to the other side :

For family and friends are waiting also
To pay respect ; chat and hug their souls
Yet my fiber yearns for days of old
My brothers and I with stories untold :

No matter how hard I hold them
No matter how hard I try
364 days till I see them again
To laugh ; hug ; joke and lie
Can't stay the tears from these old eyes ;

Painfully as my heart tears
Slowly they move towards the mist of dawn
Fading back from whence they came
Too soon ; too fast and they're gone
A lasting pain leaves me numb :

Woodstock turns and taps my head
C.C. ; As long as we are there
We can never be dead
Then shoulder to shoulder
Into the mist they disappear :

And so the wait of another year
Till we gather and all are near
Lonely are the days laid bare
Until I see you standing there :

Now 44 Memorial Days come and gone
Each passing year seems so much longer
Yet with each passing heartbeat
Brings me closer to the mist :

One day yonder in eternity's caress
Shall I take the walk eternal
Shoulder to shoulder ; arm in arm with my brother's band
Into the new realm ; we will delve
Leaving behind this mortal shell :

Till then I shall post guard
Coffee black and touch of Jack
And await the mist for your return
So we may laugh and cry and tell soldier's lies :

Memorial Day is everyday in this old heart
But for only one do we get to visit
Yet when I hear our song ; Iron Man
Will I know you're on your way :

Up and ready for our yearly day
Until the day ; I no longer post guard
But step away
And pass with you all to the eternal day :

Brothers Eternal :
C.C.

[bacpacker]

God Bless you Pops. And all the others who have saw things no one should have ever had to see and lost brothers while doing so.

[eagle326]

Thanks Son. These words are just something I wrote down 1 Memorial day eve when the pen moved me. It's hard to explain ; but if we are ever face to face again I would be more than glad to try to explain it to you.

[Brownwater Riverrat 13]

No need to explain here, I'm good, been hangin in there.

"Meet you further on up the road" brother!

[Domeguy]

Mr Eagle, words escape me...you are truely the man! Thank you for having the courage to do what so many of us didn't. Thank you...Thank you...Thank you!

[eagle326]

Mr Eagle, words escape me...you are truely the man! Thank you for having the courage to do what so many of us didn't. Thank you...Thank you...Thank you!

Thanks for the kind words Dome . There are many amongst us who appreciate people of you caliber and your support. Words have always swirled around in my head since I was young. For me I guess it's some sort of therapy to turn them loose. I think many of us military or not have these same thoughts of people ; friends and brothers lost. I believe it teaches us that life will go on and that we'll gain new brothers and sisters in our journey through life.
Such as the many I have gained being here on this site. Though peace may never truly completely come from our past I have many here that help steer a path of help and support when needed even though they may not realize it. As they would do for every member.