Thanks to my friend, Ann, at livedahobbit.blogspot.com, for reminding me that poetry and song are sometimes the best ways to speak when you are uncertain of your voice. This is a song by John Gorka. I first encountered it sung by David Wilcox. The story behind it is sweet and haunting. We don’t know who wrote the poem, but a nurse found it in an army hospital in the Phillipines during World War II.

So, on this Veterans Day: to all those who have fought for our country, my favorite song about fallen heroes:

Let them in, Peter.
They are very tired.
Give them couches where the angels sleep
And light those fires.
Let them wake whole again
To brand new dawns.
Fired by the sun not wartime’s
Bloody guns.
May their peace be deep.
Remember where the broken bodies lie.
God knows how young they were
To have to die.
So give them things they like.
Let them make some noise.
Give dance hall bands not golden harps
To these our boys.
And let them love, Peter
For they’ve had no time.
They should have trees and bird songs
And hills to climb.
The taste of summer in a ripened pear
And girls sweet as meadow wind
With flowing hair.
And tell them how they are missed,
But say not to fear.
It’s gonna be alright
With us down here.