by Earl J Wilcox
They were the first and the last:
Jonathan died first in Iraq.
David, the last to die there.
We grieve for David and Jonathan
And for Dustin, Shawn, Steven, Andy,
Mark, Micah, Gary, Lori, Melissa,
Tamarra, Frances, Kimberly, Leslie---
for 4,483 American souls who gave their lives.
And for ourselves and all human kind.
God have mercy on us all.
Earl J. Wilcox writes about aging, baseball, literary icons, politics, and southern culture. His work appears in more than two dozen journals; he is a regular contributor to The New Verse News. More of Earl's poetry appears at his blog, Writing by Earl.
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