By The TimesLedger
In honor of upcoming Memorial Day, teacher Gloria Berger (wife of TimesLedger columnist Alex Berger) discovered two poems which embody the spirit of remembering lost loved ones:
“Alive Alone”
By Murray Lake, Whitestone
In the middle of the night
Everything seemed so very right.
June 17, 1993 was the date
To remember – I just hate.
We both slept so soundly
When the phone rang – piercing, loudly
Of the accident Lance informed then
And I recall when
The drive to the hospital was the longest
yet
Shivering, frightened, and weeping – my
face all wet
To God I prayed all the time
Not to take the only child of mine.
But He wouldn't listen to my cries
I shall never see her with my eyes.
He also took Eugenie, my younger sister
And to myself I whisper “Oh, God!
Instead of them, why didn't you take
me?”
Because that's the way life should be.
I miss you my vivacious, beautiful,
precious daughter!
Lance and Kim are left without
their mother.
At the age when they need her the most
Without her they feel so very lost.
Tears come to me seldom
But my lonely empty heart beats
at random.
I'm going through shock, numbness and
despair,
Sheila, my darling, your sudden and
violent death, was so unjust – so unfair.
How can I express my sorrow
I can't hold you today or tomorrow.
How I survive I just can't tell
I only know that I'm going through Hell.
When the realization sets in I feel so bad
In silence I think that I'm going mad.
I'm trying to cope with lots of pain.
I'm the childless mother again searching
or an answer in vain.
l loved you so very much
And I miss the softness of your touch.
The concern you always showed me I
miss
And I will never get another kiss.
My only child has died
And I'm getting so very tired.
If what “they” say is right
You'll meet Grandma Rose and Eugenie
on the other side
There will be many others too – don't
fear!
They all loved you and will stand by you
very near.
But I'll try to carry on for our loved ones
the best I can
Waiting for the day, when we'll meet
again.
My nights are mostly sleepless
And then I get so restless.
So when sleep doesn't come
Through my life I roam
Thinking, missing, and yearning for you
'til it's light
In the middle of the night.
As with departed loved ones, the disabled
war veterans should also have a Day of
Homage to call their own. They sacrificed
almost as much as our fallen heroes did.
Their poem is “A Letter Home,” author
unknown.
Dear Mom and Dad:
The war is done, my task is through,
And Mom, there is something I must ask
of you.
I have a friend, Oh, such a friend, he has
no home, you see.
And so, Mom, I would really like to bring
him home with me.
Dear Son,
We don't mind, if someone comes home
with you.
I am sure he could stay perhaps a week or
two.
Dear Mom and Dad,
There is something you must know. Now
please don't be alarmed;
My friend in battle was recently shot – and
now he has no arm.
Dear Son,
Do not be afraid to bring him home with
you. Perhaps he could stay a day or two.
Dear Mom and Dad,
But, Mom, he is not just a friend. He is like
a brother, too.
That is why I want him home with us, and
like a son to you.
Before you give your answer, Mom, I really
don't want to beg.
But my friend in battle was recently
wounded, and also lost his leg.
Dear Son,
It hurts me so much to say, the answer must
be no.
For Dad and I have no time for a boy who is
crippled so.
Time passed and a letter came.
It said their son had died.
When they read the cause of death,
the shock was suicide.
Days later when the casket came, draped in
the Nation's flag,
They saw their son lying there – without an
arm, and without a leg.
