He dug deep in the soil,
the loam and silt of a fertile marsh;
from a long line of broken-back men,
inured to suffering and pain,
consistent with their DNA
from far distant crescents.
The men who toiled and fed the idle,
who gave their all to generations,
many to rot in the quagmires
of pointless conflicts, or like him —
alone, prostrate in his garden.
Copyright Francis 2021
A Bronze Statue of Saint Joan of Arc in Full Battle Armor Seen on the Grounds of St. Anne Shrine in Sturbridge, MA (Originally Published on Gargoyles and Grotesques on December 23, 2017)
St. Anne Shrine, Sturbridge, MA — Gargoyles and Grotesques
The first shots and eventual capture of the American Revolution began at Fort William & Mary on December 14, 1774.
This fort in New Hampshire saw the only action of the subsequent American Revolutionary War to occur in the New England state. This initial attack was carried out by local patriots under John Langdon.
Copyright Francis 2020
Alone —
this solitude pounds deafeningly
between my ears.
After the forgotten slap
inducing that first
sharp intake of air,
to my first memory
of a Dresden widow beaming down
into the four walls of my pram,
just what kind of oblivion did I inhabit;
how does it differ from the misery
gripping me now?
In this realm it is the sentence
of every soul to be alone,
even as flesh touches flesh,
reaching the heights of ecstasy
of mortal love.
Soon it is over
and the wails return,
cursing the passion which ensnared
this fractal of spirit
in a world of its own.
Copyright Francis 2020
Nov. 21, 1944 Dear Folks – BANG ! All in one and a half hours my bags are packed, my equipment is turned in, I climbed into a G.I. truck, I travel halfway across camp, I get out of the truck, I draw new company equipment, and unpack my bags. Now I’m in a new […]
World War II Army Adventure (73) – Dear Folks – BANG ! – November 21, 1944 — “Greatest Generation” Life Lessons
Ciscography 