IS IT TOO MUCH TO ASK?
I don't want to be a great man.
I don't care if I'm remembered
tomorrow, or next week,
or a thousand years from now.
I don't need to be a hero.
I'm not concerned if people voice
my grand accomplishments
or carry envy somehow.
I don't strive to be a scholar.
It's never been that important
to me for anyone
to listen to what I say.
I don't demand that you love me.
All I ask is if you pass me
someday on the sidewalk,
notice me, don't look away.
A MAN I THOUGHT I NEVER KNEW
He never talked about it.
It was something either he wouldn't or couldn't do.
I'd asked him a million times
To share his memories about the hell he went through.
He'd look at me with sad eyes;
Slowly shake his head, purse his lips, and then look away.
I wasn't suppose to see
The tears and the anguish that left him with nothing to say.
I always hoped he'd tell me
What it was like to fight for something you would die for.
Freedom can make you forget
The sacrifices others made on some distant shore.
He died last night in his sleep,
And I cried deep for a man I thought I never knew.
He never voiced his story,
And in my search for who he was I missed what was true.
I found an old cigar box
Tucked securely away in his closet on a shelf.
This was a gift he left behind
From him to me, but I had to find out for myself.
A photo inside the box
Showed the faded image of a smiling, young Marine.
He fought in World War II
On Pacific Islands I'd never heard of or seen.
I touched ribbons and medals
That long ago had adorned his service uniform.
For a moment I grew cold,
But then the truth of who he was made me feel so warm.
He died an unsung hero.
His Purple Heart and Silver Star gave away his plan.
And though he'd never told me
I finally realized, I'd always known the man.
(c)1998 by Russell L. Telander all rights reserved
