This is the new flash media presentation from Jay Shaft and the Coalition

For Free Thought In Media

Thank you to Cryptome.org and the Arlington National Cemetery websites for providing many of the pictures used in the video.

VIDEO LINK http://www.indybay.org/uploads/memorial2006_01bb.wmv

Link to page http://www.indybay.org/news/2006/05/1825712.php



By Jay Shaft

© 2005 Jay Shaft/CFTM© 2006

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0505/S00136.htm

As we collectively bow our heads in mourning

we all wear our funeral raiment and cloaks of grieving.

We would not have to remember you

in past tense if not for a senseless and seemingly endless war.

You carried a rifle

for an entire grateful nation

you carried the flag

on your shoulder

for all of us

you did your duty

not just for yourself

but an entire mourning country

as we gather to remember

your senseless passing.

It seems we all wear black

and all the time now

so often flags are folded

as collectively we bow

our heads and cry,

red and white of roses

takes on our mourning poses

we see you fall screaming

on far flung battlefield

and wonder WHY?

It seems so senseless,

the grind of battle relentless

we mourn not once but every

time another soldier dies

we gather reeling,

at your flag draped coffin

a scene repeated all too often

we see you die and feel so numb,

but the blows of senseless death

do not ever lessen or soften.

We gather to mourn in repetition

not every week, now it’s every day

pain without respite or rest

the tragic news hits us

with no buffer or delay

no time to catch our breath

or gasp again in horrified shock

our grieving becomes all encompassing

the increasing onslaught of bodies

a bright white agony of loss.

Every day another of our children

comes off the mortuary plane

in flag wrapped silence

the honor guards footsteps

echo in lockstep thunderously

as they bear the ceremonially

shrouded boxes of squared steel

we cry bitter, salty tears

till the tracks mark and stain

our faces with permanent pain.

While the sun shines brightly

on your gleaming polished coffin

we know you have forever

lost the light, and slipped so far

from living comfort, mortal graces

while we prepare to attend

another fallen son or daughter’s

solemn tribute, the bugles echo still

from the last soldier’s entombment.

The sound of the 21-gun volleys

become a never ending crescendo

the pipers mourning wailing dirge

becomes a mocking, never ceasing

blackened tarnished battle hymn

and the news received today

was nothing new, the tragedy being

more dead is not an isolated

terrible nightmare, but a new felt

daily sense of mind numbing reality.

As the reddened sun sets

on another awful day

our much used mourning clothes

are hung with great care

not to be put up

for distant time of need

but to wear again

tomorrow at the next gathering

in the endless parade

of loss and mourning.

The loss is now

a daily grim occupation

of tears and grief

without sign of any relief

no respite for the weary

no relaxation to remember

our much loved dead

just another day of marching

with eyes streaming, tears gleaming

in the endless funeral procession.

© 2005 Jay Shaft/© 2006 Coalition For Free Thought In Media

CONTACT JAY SHAFT AND COALITION FOR FREE THOUGHT IN MEDIA @ coalitionforfreethoughtinmedia@yahoo.com

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