Memorial Day, 2019

The origins of Memorial Day, formerly known as Decoration Day, in the U.S. has a multilayered, splintered and at times debated history. Many towns, organizations and informal groups have claimed to have started the tradition in this country. What can be established with certainty, is that even the quasi-formal observations in this country began after the Civil War.

The Civil War was the most devastating conflict the country had experienced to that point. The number of dead was mind numbing and the wounds left in the heart and soul of our country were deep. It’s repercussions echo to this day. Shortly after the war, groups of citizens, the newly freed, and military personnel began to place flowers and flags in gratitude for those killed in that apocalyptical war. Memorial Day was a means to help heal still fresh wounds.
 

But we must also remember that the practice of decorating the graves of war dead goes back thousands of years. At times, I feel we have learned very little from history.

As I have offered in my Memorial Day posts before, I hope that Memorial Day someday only marks those killed in conflicts from a distant history. I envision a day in which we may only remember the sacrifices given many, many years ago rather than for recent military dead.

The reasons for war often vary from battle ground to battle ground. Some might be fought to protect a homeland from foreign lands. Some might be fought to protect or even create freedoms and rights of others. But I fear that too many wars are and were fought for less than noble reasons.  A stern and objective look at our history and the history of other nations reveals that all too often, wars are fought out of greed, fear, religious zealotry, bigotry, and the seeking of power for a relatively small number of individuals.

Often those who call for war have never served in the military or have fought in a battle. Dwight D. Eisenhower, President and Decorated General, likely said it best; “I hate war as only a soldier who has lived it can, only as one who has seen its brutality, its futility, its stupidity.”

While we can and should despise those seek war at a moment’s notice, to deflect personal/legal challenges, or look for ways to merely justify it, we should always honor those who were called to war.  The men and women who are willing to make that ultimate sacrifice out of a sense or the cause of duty must always be aware of our gratitude and respect.

Let us all hope and work for a day when our soldiers and other military personnel are used primarily to deliver food to those in need, help rebuild a flood ravaged road, render aid to the sick, and orchestrate the building of a homeless shelter.

Let us all hope and work for a day in which a soldier’s day is boring, a sailor’s sea is calm and a fighter pilot’s sky is clear.


Without hope, without working to avoid war at all costs, and without holding our nation’s leaders completely responsible for the reasons they send our best and brightest to war, we are doomed to have Memorial Days still painful from recent wounds.

Until then, let us continue to express our gratitude to those who perished while doing their duty.

Hello, my friend. A tribute to fallen miners - 2019

Each year for the last several, I have written a poem as a tribute to our country's miners who were killed in the line of their important work. Below is the poem I presented at an industry conference honoring these people who died while making a living for themselves and their families.

Mining is an important industry to our country and way of life. If it wasn't grown, it was mined. Mining used to be one of the most dangerous occupations around, but now it is one of the safest.

However, one death is too many.

In honor of those who were taken too soon, I offer these humble words.


"We Lost You Too Soon"
by Terry L. Tyson

Hello my friend.
We’ve never met, but
I know you.


Our paths never crossed
Our eyes never met
But you knew me, too.


We worked in a job
That built cities
Where you and I live.


A job that built
a country and to a people
Our sweat we would give.


We lost you too soon
Your family and friends
Will always wonder why.


We gather to seek a way
To stop death and pain
Giving us reason to cry.


We honor you today
My brother, my distant friend
Whom I’ve never met.


We honor you today
A humble gesture
And know we shall never forget.

Atumanal Poem #4 - November Night Rain

Cool evening walks in the autumn rains bring a washing away of the year before. All growth is ceased but only to begin again after slumber and contemplation of the winter.  The smells of a rain in the fall are different than those in the spring or summer. Not unpleasant, but more earthy and basic.

Another bad poem for Autumn.

November Night Rain

Promising puddles, only teasing snow

Dark night autumnal rain,
An artist
Creating a collage show.

Of wet leaves, layers of sycamore leaf

Across concrete walks and roads
And grass
Silent sighs, a final dying grief.

Street lights are a sun streak
From a different world
Where dark
Is light and warmth bleak.

Hidden earth smells arise, surround me

In still air that moves like
Miasmic
Phantoms of lost moments, I can no longer see.

Shedding the old and embracing true

The new wonders that
Still slumber
Awakened only when I see you.