We followed the parade
Out to the old cemetery
And sat under the trees
Or tanned in the late-May sun.
A grade-schooler recited the Gettysburg Address
In a monotone; a younger child asked
“Is this everyone in Connecticut?”
Dogs made anxious by the gun salute
Barked; old men wore their old uniforms again;
And someone read out the names of the honored dead
To people who - some of them -
Had the same last names.
The weather was perfect.
The children were in dresses, in good moods.
On the way out of the cemetery,
Joe’s older daughter had a thousand questions.
“Who was the first person to die?” she wondered,
And Joe said it may have been Adam or Eve,
But no one really knows for sure.
No comments:
Post a Comment