In the United States, we recognize today as Memorial Day, a day to honor and remember those who have given their lives as part of their military service. This is not a dusty old remembrance. It is as fresh as today’s news. Honor them. Love them. Love the ones they leave behind.
Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. John 15:13
The young dead soldiers do not speak.
Nevertheless, they are heard in the still houses:
Who has not heard them?
They have a silence that speaks for them at night,
And when the clock counts.
They say: We were young. We have died.
REMEMBER US.
They say: We have done what we could,
But until it is finished it is not done.
They say: We have given our lives but until it is finished,
No one can know what our lives gave.
They say: Our deaths are not ours: they are yours,
They will mean what you make them.
They say: Whether our lives and our deaths were for,
Peace and a new hope or for nothing we cannot say,
It is you who must say this.
We leave you our deaths. Give them their meaning.
We were young, they say. We have died;
REMEMBER US.
Archibald MacLeish,
1892-1982, American Poet
Paula says
Thanks. I hadn’t read the poem before this weekend. It reminds me a bit of “In Flanders Field.”
Lauren says
This says everything I never know how to say about Memorial Day. I am so grateful that there are people who give their lives so we could have freedom, but I had never known how to express my thanks. “They will mean what you make them.” That line may be my favorite, because there is so much truth in it. Excellent post for Memorial Day.