Just another observation on what it’s like to be “different”.
Being kind of new to this neck of the woods, I’m slowly trying to assimilate myself and become familiar with the customs and traditions that make up this little place called Earth, especially here in America.
One of the best places I’ve found to do that sort of thing is at sporting events or parades or any other kind of public gathering where the people who are there all seem to have something in common. At sporting events, most of them usually root for the “home team” and wear some kind of uniform or insignia as a testament to their allegiance and loyalty. At parades and other similar functions, flags are flown and banners are waved that pretty much signify the same thing. I guess people all need something to root for.
Often times, the dates of these kind of events fall on the same day as a “tragedy” and the victims of the tragedy, whether they be innocent children, veterans of wars or bystanders who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time are briefly memorialized in something called “ A Moment of Silence”.
At first, I got to thinking about how nice that was. That people from all walks of life would take a moment to remove their ball caps and bow their heads in honor of those taken before their time. But then I noticed something after the “moment” was over, the cheering started right up again.
I got to thinking about all of those other people who died by no action of their own.
The children who starve are a continent or two away and the only time you really get to see them are on news snippets or really late night television where people ask for money to help them.
The elderly and afflicted who seem to die anonymous deaths in far away places from preventable disease.
And so many others.
It seems to me that their “Moment of Silence” has turned into a lifetime of silence. I wonder if you can you ignore something that you pretend doesn’t exist in the first place?
I think you can because if we held “ a moment of silence” for all of those people, we’d never hear another sound again.
The people stood and doffed their caps
for the many who have fallen.
They wiped their tears and blew their taps
For those who’ve met their calling.
It’s true they died before their time
and their fate was not theirs to hold.
The same can be said for the many
who died their deaths untold.
Most of them are left behind
in a shallow earthen grave.
No headstones or no monuments,
forgotten but still brave.
No planes will roar, no cannons shot
this year to mark their passing.
They lived a life that we forgot
Their numbers still amassing