"Why Me?" (A Memorial Day poem by my Mom)

"Why Me?"

Row on row of crosses
Standing side by side.
Men who are remembering, marching
Some with sorrow, some with pride,
Torn by much emotion
Recalling those who died!

Flags unfurled and flying
Some held, some hung.
People using and abusing them...
They, who search for reason
That they should kill or die
For a cause they feel
Unjustified.
Each day you you hear them cry:

"Why me, Lord, why me?"

Another Cross stands lonely
In a building called a church
And the Man Who died upon that Cross
In agony and shame
Waits patiently and hopefully
For those who carry theirs alone
To come to Him, and taste of Him
And share with Him their pain.

But they turn instead
To man-made things
Of which they closed their minds,
And try to drown away their thoughts
Until there's nothing left.

"Give us peace, oh give us peace,"

They cry to empty air.
Forgetting that this Man came once
Upon this weary world.
And out of Love
He give His Life
And once cried in despair:

"Why Me, God, why Me?"

Now when all else is tried and lost
And His children weep alone
Will they still not see
That building called a church
And the Man who hangs alone
Upon that heavy wooden Cross?
Does He wait for them in vain?

He is the Answer
To the world
To all the cries of pain:

"Why me, Lord, why me?"

Marie Kelly, Memorial Day, 1970

Daughter's note: Like most, if not all, sensible people, my mother hated war. And, like all loving people, she sought to assuage the pains of those victimized by war...which includes everybody. This poem, written during the horrors of the war in Southeast Asia, is her effort. I believe it still stands up today. To all those who have died in battle, requiescant in pace. Mom? I love you. Keep praying for us.