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St. Martin of Tours, Patron of Veterans, St. David's Episcopal Church, Austin, TX
This Memorial Day I dare you
to not feel guilty for having a cookout
to not feel bad about sleeping in
to not feel regret for skipping the event at the cemetery
to not feel sheepish for having a good time
while our longest war drags on
like a soap opera we have never actually seen
This Memorial Day I dare you
to expand the grave of the fallen
to widen the hole in the ground
to dig deeper and make a great pit
so you can fit in the body of
the Japanese Kamikaze pilot who wrote to his parents
that he would come back as a firefly
the German Panzer commander who
could not throw the grenade quickly enough
the Chinese private who ran at the enemy
empty-handed when the whistle blew
the Russian submariner who could not seal
the reactor chamber tightly enough
the North Vietnamese mortar man who fell
into the wrong foxhole in the middle of the night
the Iraqi Army truck driver roasted alive
on the road back from Kuwait
the Taliban messenger who did not hear the drone
over the sound of his dirtbike's engine
the bomb maker in his dusty shop
the Viking on his leaky boat
the Mongol on his worn-out pony
This Memorial Day I dare you
to stuff them all in this yawning grave
I dare you to mix them in with Our dead daughters and sons
Who were also brave and terrified and on their last day
I dare you to cover them gently with mother dirt
I dare you to hallow the ground
say the prayers
weep
And, when you have done all that
I dare you to hope
Weeping Like Alexander Because There Are No More Worlds to Conquer by David W. Peters
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