Saturday, May 25, 2019

DECORATING MEMORIAL DAY



DECORATING MEMORIAL DAY
      BY Claudia Roazen 2016


Memories of past sacrifices
bring two opposite faces.
One sullen and sad while the other
recounts fond times and places.

The Ladies of Columbus Georgia
made sure none were forgotten 
kept memory in honor, north, south,
amid peach trees and cotton.

The Grand Army of the Republic,
the union of veterans,
saw brethren graves unwept an unkempt,
thought they needed a better ends.

This Illinois group post Civil war
started a tradition thus
to decorate a soldiers brave bed
with flowers, honor and fuss.
 
The south called it memorial time.
The north, Decoration day.
Then at Gettysburg national park
the fallen, had one last say.

Their country would join as one nation
in marking soldiers passing.
Memorial day rose from the dead
became legacy, lasting.

So if live in the north or south
in the brave land of the free
Confederate or Union, you be.
Remember our roots are from one tree, nurtured by the fruits of their bravery, and its harvest is your liberty!

(In 1967 Decoration day and the south's memorial days officially became Memorial Day)

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