Memorializing the Past

In memory of the many past Memorial days, here’s a glimpse of my thoughts at age sixteen, revealed through a poem I wrote after visiting Washington D.C. that year.

To the One Who Left the Rose at DC’s WWII Memorial

I saw dozens of gifts at war memorials today. It was Memorial Day, after all. But somehow, yours touched me most. A single, long-stemmed red rose, laid at the base of the plaque commemorating Pearl Harbor.

Most of us don’t remember that day anymore. It’s a date, a fact, history. But to you, it must be more—horror, sorrow, reality. Did you lose someone you loved that day? A father, brother, husband, or son?

I wish I could tell you I’m sorry. Not for the pain you went through. But for the way we’ve forgotten it.

Who did you remember this Memorial Day?

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