Writing a Small Poem
What is the story? Memorial Day is almost here and although some see it as a getaway weekend, that’s not my view. As you can see in this photo by Chad Madden, for me, Memorial Day is a time to remember the service of members of my family and so many others. For me, this weekend is about the flag and the price so many paid for our freedom. That’s my FLAG story.
Now it’s your turn! What is your FLAG story?
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Anastasia Suen is the author (and ghostwriter) of 400+ fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and prose books for children, teens, and adults.
I am lucky not to have lost a loved one to a war. But I grew up near Colma, CA – home to 16 cemeteries. Every Memorial Day weekend, they are decorated with hundreds of flags. I learned a prayer of thanks that I recited to myself anytime we drove past them. Thank you for your flag story.
My memories of childhood Memorial Days are of flowers. We would cut all the blooming iris and peonies and take them to the cemetery where we would decorate the graves of our ancestors.
I am grateful, too, Anastasia, and wrote about it today, so many lost through the years & now more recently in Ukraine, some from the US who went to help. Thank you.
I am also grateful for those who serve and indebted to those who died in our wars. My father fought in WW2 and my brother in Vietnam. Now that they are both gone, I wish I’d learned more about their experiences.
I will be placing flowers on the graves of my friend and her husband as well as my former husband at the Willamette National Cemetery tomorrow morning. They both fought in Vietnam and both had illnesses as a result.
Thank you for this, Anastasia…I haven’t lost a loved one to war, but several family members served, and family members of friends. One friend lost her son to suicide after he served, and I think of her family so much on Memorial Day.
This is, and will always be such a tragedy and so very sad. My heart goes out to you and everyone else who lost a loved one. Your acrostic poem is very touching.
From Carol Varsalona:
veteran passes
taps float softly through the air
flag hovers and rests
in new hands
draft. @cvarsalona
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