It's Just a Lonely Grave

A Memorial Day Poem

Tribute to Our Heroes

My Flickr Tribute to our Troops

Liberty's Call

It's just a lonely grave:
A marker, single, alone.
No name appears upon it,
A number upon a stone.

No one comes to visit
To stop and give some news
No family gets to cry there
No flowers, no friends, no views.

It's just a lonely grave:
A marker, single, alone.
No name appears upon it,
A number upon a stone.

No honors were bestowed here,
No flags on Veteran's Day.
No gun salute of twenty-one,
No tears Memorial Day.

It's just a lonely grave:
A marker, single, alone.
No name appears upon it,
A number upon a stone.

A weed its only flower,
Grows there beside the stone.
A single petal falls now,
A tear from nature's own.

It's just a lonely grave:
A marker, single, alone.
No name appears upon it,
A number upon a stone.

Beside it stands a low bench,
Though none have sat upon.
A tree grows just above it,
No shade from dusk to dawn.

It's just a lonely grave:
A marker, single, alone.
No name appears upon it,
A number upon a stone.

Yet, here lies a Hero --
Brave, strong and true --
He lies here after dying:
Freedom's gift to you.

It's just a lonely grave:
A marker, single, alone.
No name appears upon it,
A number upon a stone.

© 2010 Linda McKinney All Rights Reserved