If you are able,
save them a place
inside of you
and save one backward glance
when you are leaving
for the places they can
no longer go.
Be not ashamed to say
you loved them,
though you may
or may not have always.
Take what they have left
and what they have taught you
with their dying
and keep it with your own.
And in that time
when men decide and feel safe
to call the war insane,
take one moment to embrace
those gentle heroes
you left behind.
Major Michael Davis O'Donnell
1 January 1970
Dak To, Vietnam
MIA March 24, 1970
Thanks to Carol Ashby, Blessed Are The Pure Of Heart is back on Kindle, and will be available in paperback soon.
Friends are everything. I couldn't have done it.
Marley, the canine waif from Afghanistan, whom WE helped save, has a Facebook page! Please drop by to see how happy he is today.
Below are my recent releases on Kindle -please excuse their presence in the body of the blog. I haven't the energy to get them up as 'buttons' in the sidebar. You can click on the covers to go to the Amazon links.
(((((Andrew)))))
ReplyDeleteThank you. Thank you.
Annie in Texas
((((((Annie!))))))
DeleteThank YOU for your friendship,and for being here.
Yes, yes, and yes.
ReplyDeleteBeautifully said, friend ...
Thank you, Linda. Maj. O'Donnell, in this one poem, left such a legacy!
DeleteThis is so very beautiful Andrew!
ReplyDeleteMary, I have always loved this poem...and Maj. O'Donnell's going MIA shortly after writing itmakes the message all the more poignant.
DeleteAndrew, thank you for sharing this poem. I so appreciate the sentiment in it and the reminder to always remember.
ReplyDeleteI'm praying for you, friend.
Jeanne, I'm so glad that you foun resonance in Maj. O'Donnell's words.
DeleteThank you so much for the prayers. Things are very bad, but I'm not giving up. Not ever.