VETERANS DAY

Victories retain the stench of death.
Each is cause for gratitude, not joy.
Those who win are fated to destroy
Every grace whose burning gives them breath.
Remember those who fell on every side,
And grieve not just for those you call your own.
No torturer or tyrant dies alone;
So may you weep for every fratricide.
Death is no fit dwelling place for pride,
And hatred's not a passion to enjoy,
Yet all who feel have reason to atone.

Velcro feelings disconnect
Eventually, but these
Time does not dissolve, their outlines
Etched into the sea.
Rest easy, then, as they erect
Among new-planted trees
No ordinary wayside shrines
Sustaining memory.
Days like these allow one
Again to travel. For what is gone
Yet lives, still mourned but free.