A TRAIL OF TEARS

Okay, so another poem... this one inspired more by Dad than anything else... yes, he does that to me from time to time.  I'm not sure this was what he was thinking when he said I should write about where the war (WWII, FYI) began and where it ended, but, then again, most of my poems don't necessarily end up the way I think they should when I start them, either.  It's (mostly) about The Arizona and The Missouri (Big Mo')... both ships representing the start and the end of the war, respectively.  But, really, you can't use the names flowingly in a poem that doesn't sound kindergartenish (IMO). SO! To also help you understand the title, the "trail" is in reference to the fact you see the oil from the Arizona as it moves along the current towards the Missouri; a trail of the Arizona's tears, if you will (see previous entry "Tears From The Deep").  Enjoy (I hope)!

A TRAIL OF TEARS

 A trail of tears, from start to end,
Lead where it ended from where it began.
From one comes weeping, from the other a sigh,
For those who from the grave now cry.
    tears and wrath and fire and loss,

    marked by water instead of a cross.

A trail of tears that endeth not,

A reminder of what sins' greed had sought.
One Power would their realm extend,
One Power would the weak defend.
    anger and fear and war abide
    in hearts where naught be greed reside.

A trail of tears for the many that died
In a war that came like a raging tide.
Its' sorrow formed a spear of wrath
And set the heart on justice' path.
    honor and valor and strength and tears
    follow the path that Freedom steers.

A trail of tears did pave the way
To loss and vic't'ry that final day.
Men stood strong and hearts beat proud
For naught but yielding would be allowed.
    triumph, defiance and painful loss
    of all the lives that paid the cost.

A trail of tears, cans't follow the lead
In honor for those whose death we heed?
The cost of war, the price that bought
An end not one our Foe had sought.
    blood and fire and death and tears
    bought peace and Freedom throughout the years.

A trail of tears, from start to end,
Lead where it ended from where it began.
Remember the end, as too the start,
Marked by the tears from a sunken heart.

TEARS FROM THE DEEP

I went to Hawai'i with my family the first week of August and got to visit the Arizona Memorial as well as visit with 3 of our Pearl Harbour Survivors.  After seeing the Memorial (and in spite of the rudeness of certain other visitors!) another poem began rolling around in my head. See, there's still oil seeping up, one drop at a time, from the hull of the Arizona. My sister mentioned it and I told her it was the Arizona weeping for those lost on December 7th.  That's when the poem got triggered and, a few days later, was written. That one, small drop of oil that continually weeps from the Arizona where she rests are her tears from the Deep.

TEARS FROM THE DEEP

Tears are still wept, tho' the heart's made of steel,

For men nigh forgot tho' a Nation should feel.

They died in a war, tho' no battle fought they,

On what became known as an Infamous Day.

Tears from the Deep, tho' the heartbeat is cold,

For valorous men who will never grow old.
Entombed in the dark, by water enshrined,

Stood ready 'gainst all, by Freedom defined.

     Tho' many have come, so few shed a tear.

     They call to us, now, do the whisper you hear?
     They are the reason this Nation stood fast!
     The weeping, so soft, do you hear it at last?

Tears are still wept to help us recall,
Tho' few still remember they gave us their all;
From way down below, to the Oceans' safe keep,
Seeping up for reminders are Tears from the Deep.