This poem was written by Rick Elgersma in honor of and on behalf of the solders who gave the gift of life for our liberty so that we could live. This was also written in connection with the efforts of Rick & Monique Elgersma at Real Connections Counseling who strive to touch the lives of the suffering every day.
Life of Liberty
a poem by rick j elgersma
Their days ended in the mists
of a theater full of grit and dust, in the dregs
of the driest breath, on the
stone hedged, swamp edged, helmet wedged earth
Where you might never hope to be or see
what it did to the minds of the men and women nearby
who make it home outside the box but inside
their screaming heart
The mightiest test of the grateful
The call of the drafted fateful
That live with war in their hearts
And the arms and legs
Left behind
But never the men … never the men
and women in or out of the box
and always underneath the flag
they all make it hope for for home
where we just barely remember
why we’re grateful
Short of the few and the brave
enough to be our own people
wrapped in flags and headstones
the modern artwork of the free
Made of grit and dust from the dregs
of the driest breath with bits of
stone hedged, swamp edged, helmet wedged earth
Where we might never hope to be or see
except for the tears that knew they were there
and the hands that wrapped the flag between
her fingers freezing time for a flash
A time when the smiles of last weeks call
call lingers between her grief
yes, grateful though I wish
I wish freedom were easier
than flags between our fingers, I wish
freedom were easier than leaning warrior
over the fallen steeped in grief and glory
Made worth rising as they fall
I wonder if that isn’t exactly what
she thought in her grip of our colors
The explosion of a grip of color
Red, white, and blue burst from the barrel
rang in the screams of their deaths
hallowed by the proud call of the free
from the rooftops borne in the grip of
Grit and dust, in the dregs of the driest earth
Where all people should stand
on their own two feet, free and protected
protected as they could be by those who
leaned hard into liberty and died
so that you and I can truly live.
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