A poem on the martyrs of the nation

Never Be Forgotten

Champions of freedom meet
in patriotic ground,
while living hero tears
are dropped without a sound.
Whispers sing softly--
Never be forgotten...

With pounding, burning sulfur
sweat and blood mixes true;
while lungs breathe in shrapnel
hands carry red, white, and blue.
Whispers sing softly--
Never be forgotten...

Chipping lives in weathered stones
History tells the story,
of common men and women
plunged into the extraordinary...
Whispers sing softly--
Never be forgotten...

Slow stepped, dirty sneakers
tramp on solemn, sunken graves;
novelty of cameras
flash only on certain days.
Whispers sing softly--
Never be forgotten...

Their battles so long over,
some souls sit living guilty,
remembering and wondering...
why my friends and not me?
Whispers sing softly--
Never be forgotten...

On foreign fields alone
blood soaks deeper in time,
telling stories of liberty
and making it truly mine.
Whispers sing softly--
Never be forgotten...

Memories and relics
service felt so true,
meet with haunting whispers...
I will never forget you.

 - Leslie Lynn King