Taps for my Soldier

Memorial Day Remembrance

In Loving Memory Of:
Douglas Scott (“Doc”) Kempf
Sp4 US Army Combat Medic
199th LIB D4/12
7/12/1947 - 9/5/1969

Taps for my Soldier

A gentle breeze 
chatters the leaves
as birds sing 
their greetings.

The sun shines on 
a day like any other,
and yet like none before.
Two mirrored rows of uniforms 
line up like blue dominoes,
white gloves holding rifles 
at the ready.

A lone bugle cries.  
Twenty-four notes,
Each note, slow as a tear,
blankets ears and heavy hearts.

In the silence between,
nature holds its breath.
Gone is the breeze.
Gone are the bird songs.
Gone is her hold on composure,
all lost in the bugle's lament.

Solemnly, a soldier approaches.
White gloves present 
a tri-fold flag
and, in one final mournful note,
legions of silent voices unite
to call a comrade home
and a young wife weeps.

[From the book, “Anatomy of a Poet”, by CJ Heck]

"Taps for My Soldier" was included by invitation in The Taps Exhibit, “The Taps Project”, Arlington National Cemetery, May 29, 1999.

"Taps for My Soldier" was included in the book, The Other Side of Sorrow, by Cicely Buckley, edited by Patricia Frisella (Poetry Society of New Hampshire, 2006).

Poet/Writer/Author of 5 books.
Quora Top Writer 2018.
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