Remembering Others

It is in remembering others that we most show our humanity.

The sod under which you lie
Sees girls trip gaily through summer dreams and boys,
Spreading flowers;
This will not have been in vain.

Winter's frost and ice, under which you lie,
Makes quiet the promise you keep,
But winter's death and spring's new life
Keeps close your heart;
This will not have been in vain.

 Death has no dominion, no power over you;
I remember well, you drove us skiing,
Beer cans in the back, memories of you at 23;
You graduated college, enlisted, went to training;
This will not have been in vain.

When they told me you were gone,
That you came back on your shield, I wept;
Your mother cried, how could this be?
Friendly fire during training exercises.' You were but 23.
All those who weep at the wall and cry, Nevermore,
Sometimes forget we do not control the plans of others,
However tortuous they may be.

The sod under which you lie,
Will hear new birds sing come this spring;
Death has no power, no dominion over you,
Nor others like you.

This will not have been in vain
This will not have been in vain
This will not have been in vain

We will remember. 

(For Michael Harris, 1944 - 1969, Vietnam.

He was my father's lab assistant, who got the call from the draft board when he was in college. He was missing one credit from full time. A deal was struck in which he would enlist after graduation from college. He was in training for only a few weeks when he died. In his letters, he never believed he'd come home. I kept telling him he would.)