The day of Infamy..7th of December. Thursday-2006

The finest tribute we can pay
Unto our hero dead to-day,
Is not a rose wreath, white and red,
In memory of the blood they shed;
It is to stand beside each mound,
Each couch of consecrated ground,
And pledge ourselves as warriors true
Unto the work they died to do.

Into God's valleys where they lie
At rest, beneath the open sky,
Triumphant now o'er every foe,
As living tributes let us go.
No wreath of rose or immortelles
Or spoken word or tolling bells
Will do to-day, unless we give
Our pledge that liberty shall live.

Our hearts must be the roses red
We place above our hero dead;
To-day beside their graves we must
Renew allegiance to their trust;
Must bare our heads and humbly say
We hold the flag as dear as they,
And stand, as once they stood, to die
To keep the Stars and Stripes on high.

The finest tribute we can pay
Unto our hero dead to-day
Is not of speech or roses red,
But living, throbbing hearts instead,
That shall renew the pledge they sealed
With death upon the battlefield;
That freedom's flag shall bear no stain
And free men wear no tyrant's chain.

Edgar Guest

Today is also Poetry Thursday. The prompt for to day is a poetry meme. Here.

1. The first poem I remember reading/hearing/reacting to was … I could guess but would probably be wildly off the mark. I do know it was most likely a nursey rhyme, ie; Fee Fi Fo Fum, or eeny meeny miney moe, or Five Little Pigs, maybe Yankee Doodle.












2. I was forced to memorize (name of poem) in school and … If I was, I don't recall having to memorize a poem in school. I did however have to memorize a passage from Shakespear's Hamlet in high school. Of course I chose the solioquy:



3. I read/don’t read poetry because … I read poetry because it tastes good. I feel poetry and it caresses my soul, bringing me peace and tranquility. The succinctness of poetry counterbalances my innate verbosity.

4. A poem I’m likely to think about when asked about a favorite poem is … Robert Frost's "A Time to Talk"

5. I write/don’t write poetry, but … I write some poetry (haiku) but read more. I'd like to do more writing, but fear of failure born of a perfectionist's mindset holds me back. I am studying and trying to set aside my fears and just "do it."

6. My experience with reading poetry differs from my experience with reading other types of literature … I've read more poetry in the last 6 months than ever before. For me, it requires a different approach. Almost always, I have to read a piece outloud to "get it." I have to read it multiple times to understand where the writer is taking me. (Sometimes I veer off and go somewhere totally unintended by the author.)

7. I find poetry … (usually in books! Sorry, I couldn't help myself. ;-))) )
I find poetry uplifting usually. Even the melancholy pieces. Perhaps this is because of the verbage, the lilting quality of the meter, or the beauty to be found in all things, even the dull and ugly.

8. The last time I heard poetry … was this morning when I read the Pearl Harbor poem , at the beginning of this post, outloud to myself.

9. I think poetry is like … Running a 5K. It gives the essence of the marathon without the hyperbole.

10. If you really want to know how I feel go to these to blogs: As it Happens
and Paris Parfait.
There is no intention to slight anyone. When I read both of these I felt; that's how I feel. I did tell P.P. that I would provide my own answers to #s 4, 5, & 8.

Another blogger whose writings mirror my feelings often is;REN.KAT.

Thank you Dana, Liz Elayne, and each and every contributor to P.T. from a poetry under- study,
rel