• Life

    Memorial Day by Dennis Caraher

    High school band. Memorial Day. Country cemetery. Marched all the way. We stood in formation, took off our caps. Stood with the nation, we played taps Year before Kennedy, year before King. Last year I cared about anything. But for that moment, we were one. Honoring soldiers At Arlington. Notes drifted across the plains. Swallows signaled oncoming rain. Station wagons, pickup trucks Rescued us then turned to rust We put on new uniforms Crisp, creased. Tattered, well-worn Some forget where we come from Some come to rest In Arlington When he was twelve, took my only son Lost ourselves in the Smithsonian Then Abraham, above the Mall. Then raised our…