Hay-Ku of the Day (Soldier's Poems)

[Rich Note:  Although late for Veterans Day, it feels appropriate to share the following two poems with a few accompanying hay-ku.]

One is never more

Alert, Aware and Alive

Then in a War Zone.

A near and present

Danger stills the mind's mental

Noise like nothing else.

Life is never more 

Dear then when the potential

For death is present.

(1) A SOLDIER'S POEM

(Samuel Audio Transcript, Vignettes on Love 1.17)

"You know that I’ve long ago given up on this business of trying to say everything so absolutely and having everything very profound.

"We just say it like it comes to be said and if we’re honest about it then not only what we say is understood but what seems to be behind it is understood too. So I don’t know why I should, all of a sudden, want to read a poem, I don't do it very often.

"I did the other day though. Maybe because I was a soldier this particular poem had significance to me. This was written by a soldier whose name we don’t know and he was a confederate soldier. And perhaps the most, as wars go, the most vicious war this country has ever suffered, a time when polarization burst into flame and, as appearances go, this is a new time of polarization. Listen to these words, not absolute words, just the simple words of a soldier:

I asked God for strength that I might achieve;

I was made weak that I might learn humbly to obey.

I asked for help that I might do greater things;

I was given infirmity that I might do better things.

I asked for riches that I might be happy;

I was given poverty that I might be wise.

I asked for all things that I might enjoy life;

I was given life that I might enjoy all things.

I got nothing that I asked for,

Oh, but I got everything I had hoped for.

Despite myself my prayers were answered;

I am, among all men, most richly blessed."

"Words like that communicate too don’t they? Of course they do. They point to Love and I can echo those words, I am, among all men most richly blessed. I am, I am and I know I am.  Oh, and I can tell you that with this blessing, that I can tell you how blessed you are, that you are blessed with perfection and purity and beauty and holiness beyond all belief…beyond all belief. -- Bill Samuel

(2) TO ONE LEFT BEHIND

To one left behind,

Who lives on in my mind;

To one I left there,

Beyond worry and care;

Who lives on in my heart,

And from whom I can't part;

Though not with me here,

He has nothing to fear,

His duty is done,

And mine only begun;

For though gone from my sight,

I'll still carry his light;

Nor forget what he's done,

As a true, faithful son.

http://www.virtualwall.org/da/AllowayCD01a.htm

In Loving Memory of TSgt Clyde D. Alloway, 18SOS, DaNang, Republic of Vietnam; a long ago comrade lost during an emergency bailout on the 6th of June 1970.]