Grass

Posted by DJL on May 25, 2013 in Poetry | 0 comments

Carl Sandburg’s poem “Grass” seems a fitting poem for this Memorial Day weekend precisely because he reminds us how quickly we forget the sacrifices of the fallen.

Each battle, let alone each war, robs us of the strength, the potential, and the future of so many people. We pause on Memorial Day to remember them, but if we are to do that well we should also remember that in truth we forget them too quickly. We also forget that we move to war far too easily, that we throw away the lives of our young too readily, and that we too hastily justify civilian and military losses in the name of national interest or advancement.

The least we can do for those who have served their country and given their lives is simultaneously to remember their sacrifice and to commit ourselves to the cause of reducing the number of those called to make such sacrifices in the first place.

This is a long weekend for most of us, the unofficial start of summer. But while we dust off the barbecue and grill up some burgers for friends, let us also remember – if only for a moment – all those we too often forget: those who have gone before, those who serve now, and those who will inevitably serve and sacrifice at some future point that we can only guess…and work now to prevent.

Grass

Pile the bodies high at Austerlitz and Waterloo.
Shovel them under and let me work—
                                                  I am the grass; I cover all.

And pile them high at Gettysburg
And pile them high at Ypres and Verdun.
Shovel them under and let me work.
Two years, ten years, and passengers ask the conductor:
                                                What place is this?
                                                Where are we now?

                                                 I am the grass.
                                                 Let me work.