Note: The following poem was just published in the "The Best Poems & Poets of 2005 The International Library of Poetry",
and appears here with the author's permission.


I wrote this poem in memory of my Cousin Jim, who was like a big brother to me. We were raised on farms in northern Alabama (homesteaded by our great-grandfather) when cotton was king. It was a hard life, but an honest and a good life. It was a sad day when the young, strong men like Jim were called to war after the bombing of Pearl Harbor and WWII was declared. It still saddens me when I remember the fields being tilled and harvested by the very young and the very old. I wrote this poem in Cousin Jim's memory and in the honor of all who have ever served their country.




You Could Set the Clock by Him Then He Went to War

To each and every one who has waved a soldier off to war--all wars



first bell chimes filled the air
drifting out across the farms.
sunday upon sunday morning
it was the Lord's call to arms.
across the fields, surely enough
he was in view, strutting his stuff.
you could set the clock by him
walking to the 8:00 each Sunday.
that was our cousin jim.
on those sundays, unbeknownst
to him, he kept us straight
until one sad day WWII threw
wide open its atrocious gates.
when we gazed on the horizon
at half past the hour
we heard the church bells
and our hearts felt sorrow.
his country had called
and Jim's feet went
marching off to war.



Evelyn L. McCusker (Evenccw@aol.com)

Akron, Ohio



PS: Uncle Tony's grave is on Cousin Jim's part of the homestead! Jim is dead now, but his four children have established homes on the property.God, it's good to be able to go back home again!

 


 


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Elgin

Communicating

IcyTracks

Storms

As I Ate My Sandwich

I Can't Imagine

Mower Man

Kismet

Dust Devil

Don't Wait

The Magnolia Tree

A Girl Named Dawn

I Tooked A Flower

Olivia Liar



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