I Remember

In memory of Earl Stueve my best friend in grade school. I have so many memories of Earl and his love for insects and animals. He was a small but mighty person and he was my best friend during those years. Even though our lives have taken us different directions I will always remember those times and what his friendship meant to me. Rest in Peace, my good friend.

I Remember

I remember days when we

Were small and bounced on daddy’s knee

And then we went to school one day

And learned a different way to play.

I remember school friends when

We played and learned the meaning then

Of friendship, play and memories made

That last until this very day.

For friendship need not be a day

Or time when all we do or say

The feelings that we showed back then

When we were young and still best friends.

I will remember, always kept

Within my heart like when we met

On school ground swing set soaring high

Into that endless blue filled sky.

For you are now within that sky

No longer here, no longer nigh

But in my heart you’re memory so

Like when we played so long ago.

Honor Guard - 2009

Today I will serve on my first honor guard for VFW Post 12034 and this poem is not only to honor the veteran today but all of those who have gone on before. I am honored to serve.

Honor Guard

Today I’ll stand next to your grave
An honor to be told
I’ll never know the service gave
By you in days of old.

But today I’ll stand and honor you
I’ll never know the cost
You gave to us, you gave your due
The time to you was lost.

The time with family, kids and wife
While serving far to our great cause
The days and hours of your life
Today I’ll stop and give you pause.

To give you one more moment’s time
To honor you with humble heart
And raise salute and not opine
A Brother still and not to part.

Rest well my brother, service done
Your time with us is now time past
But know your service to us won
A service that to us will last.

For my granddaughter, Maddie, on her 11th birthday.

For My Maddie

As you grow from young girl now
And see the future to unfold
Be not afraid but know somehow
Your presence here is to be bold.

For you are here to serve a purpose
To guide, assist along life’s way
Deep to yourself and not the surface
Have truth in all you do and say.

For life is but a blessing rendered
When you live a life well met
Of family, home and hearth most tender
A life well lived with no regret.

So choose your friends and be most able
To serve your fellow man with care
And worry not for your own table
A life of love and care most fair.

So grow my child and feel the rapture
And live so happy here to dwell
Let life be warm and in it capture
Life’s essence for you still to tell.

Thank You - 2009

For all those that have served this great country from its inception to today, Thank you for your sacrifice and call to duty. What you do is special to all of us and we honor you and carry you everyday in our hearts and minds.

Thank You

Thank you for the years you’ve spent
In times of silent loneliness
In hell that gave you great torment
When time was spent in such distress.

You spent your time in quiet pose
Eyes alert into the night
And watched the wall for unknown foes
And waited for a need to fight.

You prayed for calm and knew the fear
That soon might be a time of fright
You sat and watched and lent an ear
In silence listened to the night.

For those on watch are never resting
When they guard our peaceful homes
And when the time of greater testing
Brings to them a time unknown.

For heroes know the price they pay
When they’re called into that moment
When called upon into the fray
They sit and watch the battle foment.

Until they rise and forward go
With no regard as to their being
But go and fight against the foe
That finally is within their seeing.

For warriors are not born, but made
When times is asked for them to spend
And so they go not unafraid
Our freedom’s peril, they must defend.

Thank you from our heart’s recesses
For you have given us your all
To each brave soul He surely blesses
Our thanks will ever be our call.

Unknown Valor - 2009

I recently rejoined the V.F.W. after many years of being away. As I have met the veteran's from so many different conflicts it made me think about all the veterans I will never meet, who have died serving our country. So much is made of heroes and rightly so, I think, but so little is said of our fallen heroes.They need to be remembered by all of us not just their family and friends. This poem is dedicated to Cory Hiltz, Kyle Colnot, Alfred Mac Wilson, Stephen Dowdell, Dennis Wayne Glenn and so many others that served and gave their lives in our country's defense. Let us not get bogged down in the politics of any war but rather remember those that served and gave their last good measure for us.

Unknown Valor

The hero’s welcome loud and clear
Is heard from every realm
When passersby they lend an ear
To praise that overwhelms

The honor and the glory held
By all who gather so to hear
The hero’s story always tell
Of courage in the face of fear.

So honor heroes every one
And lift them to their risen place
For they have triumphed in the sun
Full honor to them by God’s grace.

But hearken to another soul
Now lost to us in death’s dark pallor
Who gave a portion to the goal
And suffered harm to unknown valor.

For heroes that have given all
And yet no praise is rendered
Are heroes still both standing tall
Deserve by us to be remembered.

For glory is not the lesson here
Of throngs of cheering fans
But rather what was done in fear

To fight and help our fellow man.

Remember more the one’s not seen
For this way pass they never will
For those alive they live the dream
For those now passed, forever still.

Heroes both but different seen
Some are hailed and others dreamed
But both are worthy of our praise
Both are honored lifted, raised.

Independence - 2009

Independence

July the 4th in that great year
Wise men assembled; wills so strong
A nation born they lived in fear
A land would prosper; us belong.

They sacrificed their very lives
To give to us their best good measure
Today we live in freedom still
And lives that give to us great pleasure.

For we are free to do our bidding
To travel, buy and give our heed
To venture, share and not be ridding
When our neighbor is in need.

To reach out ‘cross the great divides
To our world that is so tired
Of famine, illness so derides
And souls in poverty still mired.

America’s portion has been great
From the plate of bounty’s faire
And worried not for our own fate
Not always thanked for burdens shared.

But still it works to be a wonder
For the world to see us gleam
When trouble breaks a soul asunder
Through war and evil nasty scheme.

We are a city upon a hill
With gleaming towers to be seen
As people flock to see us still
And be a part of this great dream.

So wrap the mantle of our love
‘round the shoulders of our friends
And make for us a bond above
And bless our freedom without end.

Veteran's Day - 2009

This poem is either a little late or a little early for Veteran's Day but it is an important day to me. Obviously, it does not rank right up there with Christmas and other more socially enjoyed holidays but as a veteran and knowing many veterans; I know how little we have been honored for the lost days and years of our youth. Many of us chose to serve but many were drafted some in acceptable wars and others in wars that were not popular. We should always remember the person who served and not the cause because the cause will fade away but the veteran who stood tall for America should always be remembered for the sacrifice that they made for all of us. I would also like to say that I hold the service of women in a high state also and humbly ask that any reference to men be also recognized to their equally important sacrifices that have been made on behalf of the American people.

Veteran’s Day

Many came into that day
With hearts still young and on their way
To serve a cause their souls to soar
And wait for futures still in store.

So solders, sailors, different roles
They came to give and stories told
Of their great service to us all
In olden days to be recalled.

For travel o’er the world to see
And fight for honor and to bleed
And many gave their very best
Returned in honor to their rest.

Our country honor to them praised
Families loved and honor raised
In resting places, flag adorned
A place of triumph; not forlorn.

For valor seen through these great men
Is seen today in foreign lands
And yet the men of prior wars
Stand watch over these men of yours.

For honor, country to the fight
Many of them received their plight
But lost to us is to our gain
Their service given in our name.

So Veterans to your service render
America salutes you and remembers
That you gave to her your best
Thankful for your return or rest.