Today, I saw a King return to Memphis.
A small crowd gathers
Around a high airport window
Silently watching.
I stop also. I see the setting sun
And see soldiers in ranks
Waiting, in silent
Twilight vigil for their fallen
Comrade.
An arching water cannon salute
Bathes the plane in silent
Memphis tears
As it slowly journeys home
Bearing one of its fallen sons.
Whilst soldiers, almost mechanical,
Prepare their somber greeting,
The flag-shrouded coffin, deliberately
Glides from the womb of the plane
Delivering a soldier
Who searched for Peace.
At the window above,
The voyeurs of death gasp
As the mother collapses.
Through the thick sound-proof glass
Her pain is vivid
As she writhes
In the arms of a
Comforting soldier.
Watching, imagining, the sound of the
Harrowing wails and hysterical sobs,
As in the terrible silence
They penetrate the glass to
Deafen us.
As the cortège pulls away,
The mother,
Stooped and shuffling,
Leaves to embrace her son;
A true King has returned
To Memphis.
— Sean McNamara, Cleveland, Ohio
This came in the mail to me this week from a visitor to our airport. I thought you should read it.
Bruce VanWyngarden
