Memorial Day. A day to honor the men and women who have died in service to our country. A day of grief for many, of pride for many, of parades and speeches. I'm lucky that I have no personal relationship to this day: no one I love has died in uniform. I have friends and family who cannot say the same, and I grieve with them today. Grief is always a solo experience, and it's often complicated: a mix of pride, fear, anger, loss, triumph, exhaustion.
The poem I'm sharing today contemplates personal grief and the possibilities of shared feeling -- or perhaps a co-knowing of grief. One person's grief is always her own, but somehow knowing others grieve, too, holds us all up.
Poets don't like war much. There are many more anti-war poems than Memorial Day poems. But poems about grief and loss are legion. You could say that poets are close to grief and not afraid to talk about it. Here's Emily Dickinson's poem "I measure every Grief I meet -- " http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15394
Prayers for peace this Memorial Day and every day. The photo came from this page, where you can find many more Memorial Day poems and photos by veterans and their families. http://dennylyon.hubpages.com/hub/Memorial-Day-Poems
