Gambling Willie’s Horse Racing and Betting Blog

Where violets cover the ground,

There are soldiers graves with moss covered stones

To mark the eternal beds

Of the men who lived and died so long ago

No one living has known those dead.

On Memorial Day the high school band

Marches from where two roads cross,

To the gates of the cemetery where they play a song

To honor those we’ve lost.

And though this gesture is well-meant

How sad to comprehend

That instead of a band of strangers

It is better to be missed by one good friend.

So come back alone again some day

Instead of with a crowd,

And read their names one by one

Speak them fondly and out loud.

For when time has left us all behind

And everything we’ve done is dust,

How sad it is to realize

Our name is all that remains of us.

And someday you will be passed by time

Your grave forgotten, too,

And everyone who could have remembered you

Will be forgotten, too.

Then some stranger may visit your grave

When violets cover the ground,

And under a sturdy New England tree

Speak your name fondly and out loud.