July 7, 2016

A poem by Tim Philippart: "Feel Free to Mourn"

Tim Philippart sold his business, retired to explore, write and discover he wasn’t very retired at all. He ghost blogs, writes poetry, nonfiction and an occasional magazine piece. He loves writing and wishes he had not waited decades to pick up the pen. He sees baseball as a metaphor for…. Oh, he’s sorry, he keeps promising not to do that. Send emails to timphilippart@yahoo.com.

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Feel Free to Mourn


Some come back heroes.
A few get a parade.
One or two get pinned with,
the Medal of Honor.

There are those
that come back whole,
blend in again
and resume a life.

Right now, in some post, somewhere,
some soldier is losing his
spouse and kids,
abandoned by his reasons to come home.

Even the dead come home,
to emptiness, tears, a funeral,
flowers, a potluck of memories,
and mourning.

Some dead wait where the bodies are stored,
cold and alone,
like unwanted baggage, and,
no one claims these forgotten.

Strangers walk them to a grave,
where they bury the unclaimed dead.
Those who knew them and didn't care,
deserve to be pinned with medals of shame.

The unclaimed dead---
maybe hero, maybe not, but
if you are not thankful for freedom,
think of these eight.


~Tim Philippart

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