May 2009

Memorial Day Prayer

Spirit of Life
whom we have called by many names in
thanksgiving and in anguish—

Bless the poets and those who mourn
Send peace for the soldiers who did not make the wars
but whose lives were consumed by them.

Let strong trees grow above the graves far from home
Breathe through the arms of their branches

The earth will swallow your tears while the dead sing
“No More, never again, remember me.”

For the wounded ones, and those who received them back,
let there be someone ready when the memories come
when the scars pull and the buried metal moves
and forgiveness for those of us who were not there
for our ignorance.

And in us, veterans in a forest of a thousand fallen promises
let new leaves of protest grow on our stumps.

Give us courage to answer the cry of humanity’s pain
And with our bare hands, out of full hearts,
with all our intelligence
let us create the peace.

by Barbara Pescan, minister, Unitarian Church of Evanston, Illinois, from Beyond Absence, a treasury of poems, quotations, and readings on death and remembrance, collected by Edward Searl, published by Skinner House Books in 2006.

This book is available from the CLF Library or 617-948-6150 or at the UUA Bookstore. For the month of May, Quest readers receive a 20% discount on this featured book. Visit the UUA Bookstore and enter discount code CLF0509 on checkout or call 800-215-9076 and give the code to your customer service representative.