Vietnam War Memorial, Washington, October 11, 2002
My wife and I walk the path
of the named dead
of that undeclared war against bogeyman,
almost the first guests
of the grey names
on this rainy morning.
My eyes begin to pray down
the bent gash
of polished black granite.
I remember
the napalm blooming
on our first color tv
how it took a village
a whole village
a whole nation of villages
that our army navy air force
and marines
had to destroy in order to save
for we as a people to learn
there was no saving these soldiers
no saving the peace of this republic.
Later we stand where Micheal Rennie stood
in that scene from
"The Day the Earth Stood Still"
and read the words, not names
chiseled into pale marble
of another, nearby monument:
"fondly do we hope, fervently
do we pray
that this mighty scourge of war
may speedily pass away"
But will it?
Ever?
Will we ever do "all
which may achieve and cherish
a just and lasting peace
among ourselves
and with all nations"?
In a halt stroll
we come into the cadence,
embrace and apex
of this acute obsidian angle
cut into the earth
We blink like owls
watching the rain wash down
the graven ghost letters
watching our reflections
in the smoked glass
stand in the rain
blinking like owls
blinking back superfluous tears
next of kin
though none of ours
died to this wall.
