Tuesday November 11th, 2008

The exercise:

In honor of Remembrance Day, today's starter is: I remember.

Mine:

I remember the water;
The sons, brothers and fathers
Pressed together so tightly,
Their eyes shining so brightly.

I remember the gunfire
And grenades of hell's dark choir;
The ricochets gave us fits
Inside that tiny damn ship.

I don't remember the beach,
The bunker I'm told we reached;
The men who died all around
Just to capture precious ground.

I remember the silence
Of woods where birds made me wince;
Days without seeing a soul,
Digging and living in holes.

I don't remember the night
They found us without light;
I remember dawn breaking -
My hands were still shaking.

I remember the last day:
I fell on my knees to pray:
For pardon for what I'd done,
And for thanks that we had won.