Who are the living and the dead?
Wrestle with twilight, off to bed
Drink to men who are no longer here
Who are they? It isn’t clear
A broken mirror and shattered glass
Remembering ages now long passed
Black hulled boats over stretching seas
Heartbreak seeing what used to be
Who are the living and the dead?
Dispirited men I plainly said
Cry for them, as they cannot be
Absent minded, sad memory
Blow our horns the message sent
Eternally damned for the honor of men
Towards the darkness on feckless waves
What meaning is found in what death delays?
The crumbling walls, the plunging knife
The hurried breath, the expunging life
The harried shouts, the toothless dying
Youthful rebellion becomes silent complying
We drink to men from our lonely bed
Who are the living and the dead!?
O God, O God, O memory!
I screamed aloud, it’s me it’s me!
~by Michael Kurcina 2016
Just one more poem I wrote while waiting in the parking lot for my kid to get out of the gym. Wished I had more time to work on this but have to PT, eat and sleep. Do writers spend countless hours knocking out material? I know many do. Good or bad poetry, this is about a man reluctant to embrace his death. I’ve met many men indifferent to life or death. We post so so many memes on killing and being badass but are we truly ready for the other side? Whether Valhalla or heaven or a void what is it that you’re ready for, and have you braced yourself for what is beyond that door? Do you practice what you preach?
I included military poetry in Spotter Up because poetry nourishes even the toughest hearts and helps us survive. A few lines of Homer or Hurd. Your choice. Some of the more notable poets were English writers, but the sentiment and the views sometimes run parallel with our own European perspective; freedom rather than dictatorships, democracy, individualism and service, bravery and lastly, they too celebrate the culture of the noble warrior who works to liberate others.
I think military veterans should spend more time learning how to express themselves. Paint, write, sing…Find a Way or Make One to get a better frame of mind…