How measure the greatness of their contribution?
The laughing boys
The joking boys
The scared, bragging, tearless boys
The little cupfuls of life
Flung above the fields of death
Reeling, whirling globules of light
Tiny spheres of time
Evaporating in the stenchant air
Or spattering upon the thirsty, dirty ground
Lost beneath the blood and rust.
One hundred: A thousand?
One hundred thousand?
How many to fill each day’s demanding void?
They came, running from their playgrounds,
Still shouting over disappearing shoulders
To laggard game-mates
Boots fitted, belts buckled
They were gone
Long before the calls could end
Or the deeds be done
Or the medals molded.
How measure the greatness of their contribution?
#MemorialDay #VeteransDay #SoldiersandPoetry
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