It is a joining
As I kneel here
Hand on cold black stone
Carved in remembrance of the fallen
By I am a living wall
My memories dance across my eyes
When smells and sounds
Actions and words
Take me to the place I cannot escape

We hold hands across the space of time
My buddies and I
Though gone in body
This place brings them close
Their laughter, their bravery
Moments of peace in the barrage
Friends become family
When forged in the annuls of Hell

Children walk past oblivious to my remembering
Laughing in the light of the day
Together we pray
That they never know
What we know
Of the truth of Hell