Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Yesterday

Yesterday the twig was brown and bare; To-day the glint of green is there; Tomorrow will be leaflets spare;I know no thing so wondrous fair, No miracle so strangely rare. I wonder what will next be there!~L.H. Bailey

Yesterday we stopped to look at the American Cemetery, it looked so well cared for, dressed up in its early springtime style, smart like a new suit, not a stray twig or leaf. The grass was short, the shrubs clipped, rose bushes cut right back. The huge monument party hidden under a plastic cover was being cleaned, all around was spick and span. The only thing untamed was the flag which blew in the wind.
It will always be yesterday for the men who are buried at the cemetery, they will not experience the wind which blows today, or the blossom which may bloom tomorrow.
Waiting in line

The French word for twig is brindille.

The French word for bare of leaf is dépouillé sans feuilles.

13 comments:

Diane said...

That looks so much like Arlingtion National Cemetary in DC :)

Anonymous said...

Eerie but wonderful photo!

A very touching and poetic post.

The Ice Bloggers said...

Very poignant

The Accidental Fan said...

I wonder if it is true about what Dean Rusk said to de Gaulle....

French Fancy... said...

I loved that Bailey poem.

bindu said...

Liked your words as much as Bailey's. Very true and thought-provoking!

Blu said...

Places like that make me think. So many people live but do not think.

Blu said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Blu said...

I assume that the comment that TAF refers to is this
He later reports comments made by General de Gaulle to Secretary of State Dean Rusk in 1964. "'One thing you have to understand, Monsieur le Ministre, is that the French Republic and the troops of the French Republic will fight to the end for the common cause, which is certainly the cause of freedom and democracy in the world, alongside of America, etc., but French troops will only die defending their own soil and under French command'.

The idea of a French general receiving orders, as you would conceive it, from an American or any other foreign general was intolerable

ArtPropelled said...

Powerful image, Blu!

The Accidental Fan said...

Blu,

I think it was Rusk that De Gaulle demanded the US troops be removed from French soil, to which Rusk gave the rather petulant and irrelevant reply:

"Does your order include the bodies of American soldiers in France's cemeteries?"

I could be wrong as I've also heard it was Johnson.

TAF

Blu said...

Interesting info TAF.

Unknown said...

"The only thing untamed was the flag which blew in the wind. It will always be yesterday for the men who are buried at the cemetery, they will not experience the wind which blows today, or the blossom which may bloom tomorrow."

Now that is pure poetry.

You've brought up some interesting thoughts about war, both in your post and your comments. From where I've always had the luxury of sitting, I've been able to hold onto my anti war ideals, but I know if I ever were tested, I'd be one of the first to stand up to defend me and mine.