The Wall ----a remembrance day poem from Jude Kyrie

Remembrance  day at the wall
by
Jude Kyrie

It is the 11th minute of the 11th hour
on the 11th day of the 11th month in the capital.
I visit here every year on this day.
Wreaths of flowers are abundant
everywhere I look;
The early winter sunshine 
is bright in my eyes.

The wall is dark and long and filled
with the names of the fallen.
I look for the name
of my boyhood friend, Joseph Reilly.

It is always hard to find.
So many names 
so much sadness.

We served together in Nam
a lifetime ago.
I can still hear the explosion
the flash of the tracer lights
He gave his life that I might live.
A gift beyond any gratitude.

A shaft of sunlight falls
onto the gold filigree
of the names on the gray wall.

On my white shirt
they reflect like on a screen.
I see his name on me
as though he is reaching to me
I feel him with me 

My lips move to say
I love you, man.
A cloud passes the sun
and his name melts from my shirt
On the wall, it stays forever.

Jude