Today is Memorial Day in the US, and I’m thinking of those who served and died. I’m thinking of Boalsburg, one of the first homes of Memorial Day celebrations. And I’m thinking of the ways in which we remember those we’ve lost, as sorrow highlights the good that remains.
Memorial Day by Amos Russel Wells
The Day of Memories!—Remembering what?
The cannon’s roar, the hissing of the shot?
The weary hospital, the prison pen?
The widow’s tears, the groans of stalwart men?
The bitterness of fratricidal strife?
The pangs of death, the sharper pangs of life?
Nay, let us quite forget the whole of these
Upon our sacred Day of Memories.
The Day of Memories!—Remembering what?
The honored dust in every hallowed spot;
The honored names of all our heroes dead;
The glorious land for which they fought and bled;
Our nation’s hopes; the kindly, common good;
The universal bond of brotherhood;
These we remember gladly, all of these,
Upon our sacred Day of Memories.
* * *
J.R. Johnson 
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