*I'll always cherish this award, not only because it was the first one I received for poetry, but because it was bestowed by the late, great, master poet, Tony Spivey, also known as "Poetdude" in July 2000.
It was such an honor to be recognized by one who had so much talent, and such a special gift.! *
jg
this day I remember you..
sweet love,
this day I remember you
in your uniformed devotion
waving your hat at the station...
tears too proud to fall, cornered
your sadness
freedom flagging surrender
an honorable sacrifice of youth,
family, limbs, and life...
our last day of loving
distance, plus years of separation
stole more from us than devotion
like a toy soldier in a child's war
you were invincible, yet, to this day
plastic offends you...
you scatter war toys across the floor
with the cane that supports your beliefs...
and bitterness
for having been the one
to survive
honorable murder has made
your heart a battlefield
the taste of death
was vile
nightmares forever choke
dreams from your mind
though a thousand angels
watch over you,
you suffer
abandonment of spirit...
lost
on death's playground
still wondering how, and why
you
were the one to survive...
after being spattered
with the blood of brothers,
who gave their lives defending
the principles of dignity,
and justice
somehow,
your survival seems
more than just...
an erection of stone
a memorial for truth
beyond human expectation
perhaps the last reminder
to those
who have not
visited the museum of the dead.
©7/4/00
January Grey
