Grandfather Yonah

Image Source.

by Tab Taber

Written following the 5th Ranger Training Battalion Remembrance memorial on April 26th.

Sentinel, Seer
Guardian of the hills
Wizened rock, granite strong
Rooted in north Georgia clay
Reaching to the heavenly spaces
Monument to the moment
Monument to the millennia
Mindful of what was, what is
And yet still to come
Timeless, yet present
Tactile, yet eternal

Grandfather Yonah

Image Credit: Author

Calm, still morning
Peaceful, clear
Hunched shoulders under heavy loads
Mist rising, winding upward
Labored breaths, climbing heights
Thinking of food, of ill-placed blisters
Of home, of loved ones
Of helping their brother, their sister
On their left, on their right
Complete the mission
Survive the day
Twenty-four sleepless hours
One more hash on the patrol cap
Marks the slow march of time
Onward, upward
Inward

Grandfather Yonah

Sudden rush of rain, wind, and gale
Toppled tree in a frenzied storm
So random, such a cost
Crushing blow to lives and hopes and dreams
Immobilizing shock, panic, disbelief
Brothers by your side, eating, laughing, joking
Just seconds before
Mere inches demarcating life and death
Still, breathless, broken
How is this possible? Why?
A late-night knock  
A feared phone call to unsuspecting souls
Forever changed; forever ladened
Families, fiancés, friends, team-mates
Tears and memories
Forever touched

Image Credit: Author

Grandfather Yonah

Sees all, down to the last hair
Cradling generations
Marking end of bloodlines
Beginning of legacies
Reverent witness
Two souls silently slipping the bonds of earth
Piercing the mystical veil between the realms
Wonderment, amazement
Eyes fully open
To love, acceptance
Unimagined joy
Brothers forever
Reunited

Grandfather Yonah

Thin space
Keep silent watch over our Sons
Rest well in lush green hollow
Under sun-dappled trees
Where songbirds sing melodious odes
Wooded mountain lair
Testament to short lives well lived
Ripples still forming
Undulating outward
Becoming waves on distant shores
Far away, in places unseen 
In time unknown

Image Credit: Author

Grandfather Yonah

Precious names etched on small white stones
Manicured grass, fluttering flags
Someday will weather and fade 
Yet
Your towering granite walls
Rising out of Georgia hills
Withstand wintry storms and erosion and decay
For centuries, for generations, for millennia
Will always stand tall
A fitting, lasting headstone for our fallen Sons
Until we too, walk that path
Climb that mountain
And taste the sweetness of eternity
Where we will be reunited once again
With ours Sons, our brothers, our loved ones
Under the approving, knowing eye of

Grandfather Yonah