Elegy
By Roberta Sampere
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These are the names of the dead.
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David Gunn, Sr.
John Bayard Britton
James Barrett
Shannon Lowney
Lee Ann Nichols
Robert Dewayne Sanderson
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Make for them a remembrance.
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Shout their names from the mountain tops.
Let them echo in the canyons.
Let them roll across the plains.
Shout their names from the roof tops.
Let them echo in the city streets.
Let them roll across the suburbs.
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Let us build for them a black granite wall.
Let us build for them a white marble obelisk.
Let us carve their names for eternal remembrance.
Let us light a flame to blaze above their graves.
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Let us plant for them a forest
Filled with trees of every kind:
Give them oaks for strength and hickory for determination
Give them maple for valor and sycamores for loyalty
Give them laurels for victory and pines for immortality
Give them olives for peace
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Let us celebrate them in the arts:
Paint for them murals
Craft for them statues of marble and bronze
Sculpt for them a mountain
Weave for them tapestries
Tell their stories
Write for them poems
Produce for them plays and movies
Sing for them songs
Marches and symphonies
Ballads and operas
Dirges for their deaths
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These are the involuntary heroes
Let us name our schools and libraries for them
Let us name our streets and bridges for them
Let us name our hospitals and clinics for them
Let us name our children for them
Let us name for them a remembrance
For all generations to come
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These are the names of the dead.
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David Gunn, Sr.
John Bayard Britton
James Barrett
Shannon Lowney
Lee Ann Nichols
Robert Dewayne Sanderson
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Make for them a remembrance.
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