Memorial Day

Strait Talking

In memory

of those 

who died

in the name

of our 

freedom,

we pause

for their

cause,

US.

May

their 

memory

be 

for a 

blessing-

not messing

around

to the sound

of patriotism.

Now,

war hawks

are in peace

talks

with Iran,

and this

administration

is desperate

for this

to end

well

after it fell

into the trap

of trying

to sell

a war

of his own

making.

Faking

progress

in this mess

is,

by now,

expected.

Remember

how

he directed

that bleach

injected

would cure

those affected

by COVID?

I’m not sure

who said

he puts 

the ID

in idiot,

but the 

shoe 

does fit.

So

I have no

expectation

of consolation

on this 

sad

Memorial Day.

He’ll lay

a wreath

in Arlington

Cemetery

as is 

customary,

while

the rest 

of the country

mourns

the loss

of each

daughter

and son,

and no one

in particular,

just the vast

number

who have

died

for the legacy

of American

democracy,

that now feels

like almost

a memory.

Mourning

in America

turns

the sunny

phrase

dark,

in stark

contrast

to days

of strength.

The length

of this aberration,

a scourge

on our nation,

long

beyond

sensation,

will someday

be a bad

memory.

When will

Memorial

Day

be 

only

for the past,

not a forecast?

I hope

that at

last

the Strait

of Hormuz

opens

and continues

to be 

a conduit

and we 

don’t forget

how we got

in this situation.

Memorial Day

should remind

us 

that the wars

behind us

are warnings

not just 

of mournings

but of what

all those

young people

died for.

Last Memorial Day

Remember

last 

Memorial

Day?

Unless

a death

was new

to you,

the beginning

of summer

on the

calendar

probably

felt

like any

other

last 

Monday

in May.

The peculiar,

yet familiar,

combination

of dignified

commemoration

alongside

barbecues,

movies,

and retail

sales,

the way

Americans

mark

occasions,

have a long

tradition.

But our

current 

condition

calls into 

question

this celebration

of summer

and sacrifice.

To honor

those

whose

service

was 

for us,

whether

we asked

for it

or not,

deserve

for us

to preserve

our democracy’s

promise.

Arlington

Cemetery,

where rows

of those

who perished

for this country,

is sacred.

It is

holy

ground,

where

history

is found

among

the graves

of the ones

who saved

us.

All those

wars-

what 

were they

for?

This can’t

be 

the last

Memorial

Day.

If Memory Serves….

Originally called Decoration Day, Memorial Day, celebrated today, the last Monday in May, is observed in remembrance of those who died in service to our country. More accurately, Memorial Day is a national holiday recognizing military personnel who died during war. For many, the memorial aspect is secondary to the barbeques  and pool openings and retail bargains and the unofficial commencement of summer. For others, Memorial Day is about patriotism. For them it is literally about their loved ones being wrapped in the flag.

Decoration Day was initially a day set aside to place flowers or other decorations on the graves of Civil War soldiers. It was not a national holiday at the outset, and Northern states observed Decoration Day on a different day from Southern states. After WW1, the nation as a whole began to commemorate soldiers who died in war, and Memorial Day has become a tragic tradition that unites us in loss, as so many have died in so many wars,with the expectation that there will always be more.

Unlike the Civil War, or even the World Wars , Korea and Vietnam, today the country acknowledges those lost in wars, but many citizens have not experienced the loss personally. Military families are no longer all families. But service should be in all families. Whether or not it is military service, perhaps we can use this Memorial Day to consider service in its myriad possibilities for bettering our communities and our country.

Many people give their lives to service. They may not lose their lives to service, but find that in serving others, they are creating better communities. We need to consider these acts of national pride as well. In addition to military personnel, police and firefighters have chosen careers that put themselves in harm’s way in service to our communities. We should remember them. We should acknowledge them. We should be more connected to those members in our communities who service us. Teachers service us. No, they do not risk life or limb except in unusual circumstances, but the choice to teach kids is in service to our communities and to our nation. We have begun to encourage young people to serve–not just militarily, but in numerous ways in their communities. This Memorial Day, as some decorate graves of fallen soldiers, and others fire up the grill, let us consider the prospect that the term servicemen or servicewomen need not be limited to the military. If memory serves, then let us all be servicemen and servicewomen. Let us give more of our lives without losing them to violence in the name of freedom.