Peace Always
November 10, 2001

How do you write a poem for someone you have never met?
How do you read a story that ended too soon?
Thoughts elude like a swaying swing
And words hide like children on the playground

What does a man think about the second before heaven?
Is it the radiant love of God's outstretched hand?
Or friends gone before beckoning you forward
Or the little girl back home with only photographs and vague memories?

In fields walked only in our imaginations
A soldier fills his call, his duty
Each day another blessing of God's grace
Each night a churning waiting game

In those same fields
A soldier surpasses all call, all duty
In a single moment
A hero is born

Thirty two years crawl for a family missing a spark
But to you time is but a wink of an eye
In God's eternity

In September the world watched
as twin towers held in God's palm
then crumbling down
Bringing back things so vibrantly, so hauntingly
To the little girl, now grown

You wanted to experience everything
To take life by the lapels and shake it
And you had questions of why
We still do

But we celebrate
For as we grow old and wrinkle and gray
You have youth, you run on streets of gold
Cannot feel debt, fear, stress or worry

Today is your day
They built a monument and see your name
To them its just a name among too many names
But to your family it's a tribute to you
of missed Christmases and birthdays
Of tears not cried and joys not shared

Strangers won't know our hero
Your laugh, your words, your mischief
Your strengths, your fears or your faith
No architect can expose your soul, your heart

I wish I had memories to reflect upon today
I can only salute you as a martyr
If we walk away bitter we have missed the point
We must grab a hold of life
for that was your message