Memories on Memorial Day 2020

On this Memorial Day, we remember with gratitude the lives and sacrifices made by our predecessors so that a bigoted mad man, and his allies, would be stopped from their attempt at world domination, and the slaughter of innocents reduced if not eliminated. In our immediate family [the Better Half and I], heartfelt thanks goes to two fathers [hers and mine], one who served at sea [hers] and the other in the air [mine], plus an uncle [mine] who served on the ground.

We find ourselves pondering how, within the lifetime of some who served in WWII, we have drifted so far from the ideals we espoused prior to and during those years of devastating fighting:

In the face of obstacles - COURAGE

a careless word... A NEEDLESS LOSS

I'm not quite old enough to remember rationing and Victory Gardens, but I remember hearing about them. This Memorial Day much of what I'm hearing is about how inconvenient it is to wear a mask or keep out of crowds in order to help protect our own health and that of those more vulnerable. Almost half the population believes a "president" who lost the popular vote is doing a good job combatting a pandemic in which the US ranks #1 in virus-related deaths. That appears to indicate a massive failure in our public education system and a breakdown in what used to be more shared values about community and what it means. This is not a Memorial Day on which I can honorably honor the current state of the "leadership" of this country.

may this Memorial Day bring the dawn of a better era

Photo by J. Harrington

Perhaps it's a hopeful sign that, among my morning readings was the poem below. It captures my mixed feelings surprisingly well. Let's work hard so that, by Memorial Day 2021, we can remember how much better we're doing than we have for the past three+ years, so our ancestors haven't sacrificed in vain.

Thanks

W. S. Merwin - 1927-2019

Listen 
with the night falling we are saying thank you 
we are stopping on the bridges to bow from the railings 
we are running out of the glass rooms 
with our mouths full of food to look at the sky 
and say thank you 
we are standing by the water thanking it 
standing by the windows looking out 
in our directions  

back from a series of hospitals back from a mugging 
after funerals we are saying thank you 
after the news of the dead 
whether or not we knew them we are saying thank you 

over telephones we are saying thank you 
in doorways and in the backs of cars and in elevators 
remembering wars and the police at the door 
and the beatings on stairs we are saying thank you 
in the banks we are saying thank you 
in the faces of the officials and the rich
and of all who will never change
we go on saying thank you thank you 

with the animals dying around us 
our lost feelings we are saying thank you 
with the forests falling faster than the minutes 
of our lives we are saying thank you 
with the words going out like cells of a brain 
with the cities growing over us 
we are saying thank you faster and faster 
with nobody listening we are saying thank you 
we are saying thank you and waving 
dark though it is

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