Unforgotten

In honor of POW/MIA Recognition Day on Friday, 17 September 2021, and inspired by the National League of POW/MIA Families’ Missing Man Table and Honors Ceremony, please consider the following.

UNFORGOTTEN

The table.
Round.
Without start.
Without stop.
Unending, like our grief for them.

Linen cloth.
Pure.
Similar
To their hopes
And dreams when they answered the call.

Red rose of
Life.
What they pledged,
We lost. But
We keep faith while waiting answers.

Gold ribbon.
Turned
And twisted
Much like the
Uncertainty of their return.

Sliced lemon.
Fates,
Bitter and
Still unknown
Since serving in a foreign land.

Grains of salt.
Tears.
Families
Wondering
Whether they are captured . . . or worse.

A candle,
Lit,
Leads the way
Through darkness
And guides our prayers for their return.

A book of
Faith
To strengthen,
And sustain
Them, and us, while kept from their homes.

Champagne flutes
Are
Upside down.
Unable
To share a toast in their absence.

Empty chairs,
Six,
For service
Personnel
And civilians kept from joining.

To them, we
Raise
Our glasses
Of water
And say . . . You are Not Forgotten.