From Halls To Walls…A Tribute for the Fallen
Training camp the first step, to marches
Forward facing enemies only seen on maps
Tags on chains, numbers and names
stamped upon steel
Fatigues, called such because
one was too tired to peel clothes
from bodies caked with sweat and mud
and a gun riveted to hands
The clay and water were red
not from the design of nature
or a miracle for wine
but by blood spilled for freedom
Comrades carried brother
the weight of flesh never as heavy
as the burden of the memory carried
of watching life slip away
We raise walls with names
Dates of life. Touching stone with hand
the cold reality sends shivers to bone
That freedom came with a price.
I stand, and salute the fallen.
I raise voice and pledge allegiance
I kneel, and offer thanks
That I too, am free.
William Dawes
November 10, 2000
© Copyright 2000
1st Poet Inc.
William S. Dawes
Please tell me what you think
Comments
1 - 7 of 7
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This is beautiful. My cousin is a Sergant General in the army, and just returned from over seas this last monday. This was his seventh trip over there. So this poem really hits home for me. I enjoyed reading it, but I really enjoyed seeing someone care enough to write this. You truly are talented. I thank you for this, and not forgetting what memorial day is really about. -Stormy-
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thank you for writing this. i was in the service for several years, just gotten out in the past year. it is good to know that there are people at home that care and appreciate all that is being done. so thank you again for your kind words.
- andré -
Beautifully written. This is a fantastic tribute to our men and women in uniform. How often they are forgotten, how sad that so many dispise them when they should be praised. Amen to this!
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Dear 1stpoet,
Wow..I'm right there with you...I've got 4 family members in the service and I'm EXTREMELY PROUD of them! Your poem speaks volumes, so I thought I'd share mine with you...
^j^Honesty
A Toast To Freedom
Let us raise our glass in the spirit of our nation
For those that the United States of America praise
As we come together for our perfection's creation
Holding the law that defends justice's rights today
Always call for tranquilities, the domestic kind
Never completely lose sight of plain common sense
If you ignore these laws, you're just turning a blind eye
Remember to provide for the common day defense
General welfare's public promotion is in sight
As we are blessed by secure liberty far beyond
Claiming our personal posterity for what we'll fight
To our death we shall defend it until it's far gone
So let's toast our freedom and the Constitution
The Constitution for the United States of America!
Be proud to be free and live in the U.S of A !!!
Copyright 2003
Jani J. Fraim
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Great write. So many have paid the ultimate price and when you see that wall it is a real reality check. Take care and Have fun. Steve
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Perfect
I am never sure what to write in the your verdict opening. Am new here. So well done by a fellow Michigander. My favorite stanza I think is We raise walls with names.
The only thing I would change and it is a matter of taste... I wouldn't capitalize the beginning word however I see that you are using capitals to make the punctuation. Then the last stanzas you do have punctuation. I would decide to do it one way or the other. However, battles have been fought in poetry circles over a comma here or a period there. My suggestion on last two stanzas done without punctuation using capitals as benchmarks for punctuation is as follows.
We raise walls with names
Dates of life - touching stone with hand
the cold reality sends shivers to bone
that freedom came with a price
I stand, and salute the fallen
I raise voice and pledge allegiance
I kneel, and offer thanks
That I too, am free
However, it would be your choice to change it.
Penquinpoet
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Wow!
Now all I have to say is this is just outstanding!...beautifully written and you have a great respect for the fallen who risked their lives for their country and you have a great love for your country!....I am not American but I love America and the American People...I have a couple of poems on my page about America,called Our American Flag and Real American Hero....Hazel.
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