These Stones, Arlington Cemetery
in Memory of the Veterans of the Korean Conflict
These stones are marks of love
For heroes and for men.
Ribbon them with honor
Before the patriots come
With flag and fanfare
To mark the conflict's end.
There's a story in each soldier,
A mettlesome love, untamed,
Of soldiers crouched on their toes
Near enough to pain
Who took themselves to Victory
Where flags were scarcely plain.
Each one I'm sure had a secret
Of injury with ripened lips;
Of reckoning with an ideal
Or arms for the helpless
Beyond some chartless shoreline
Or muted depth.
These stones are marks of love
For heroes and for men.
Ribbon them with honor
Before the patriots come
With flag and fanfare
To mark Goliath's end.
by James Wm. Chichetto
... who is a freelance poet, with eight books of verse to his
credit, and works appearing in The Native American Poetry
Anthology, The First Abbey Wood Anthology, The
Boston Globe, The Boston Phoenix,
The Colorado Review, Gargoyle,
The Manhattan Review, Poem,
The Paterson Review. He is related to combat
veterans of the Korean War and World War Two; and teaches at
Stonehill College, Holy Cross.
