COINS OF MEMORIAL

I recently received an e-mail about putting coins on deceased veteran's grave markers.

I have to admit that I was unaware of this tradition and I am a veteran of the Korean conflict.

Well, I had to write a poem about this! The photo was on the email I received and is also found on the internet. Turns out , there are lots of photos of graves with coins on them. Apparently the tradition goes back to Roman times.

Enjoy the poem . . . . . .

 

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In Arizona, on a hundred acres, more or less

Where desert life once struggled amid stark bareness

Now, at this unlikely place, where nature once was all
Rest precious souls who, in life, answered a nation’s call

Marble markers . . . . Row after row, column after column
The panoramic landscape that graces the eye is awesome

Names of a nation’s brave patriots deeply etched in stone
Alas, many stories of their heroic valor may never be known

An old tradition, carried out here, honors these souls so brave

On some markers, coins have been left by visitors to their grave

A penny tells the family a friend was there with respects to pay

A quarter . . . a fellow warrior who was present on that fatal day

A penny, nickel, dime or quarter… each has a meaning to convey

A tradition that someone special was there with respects to pay

                                                                Poem by Herm Meyer

STUFF: 

I think you will enjoy this YouTube video...   Coins on a Gravestone  . . . . . I love the background music.

Please pass my poem on to your internet friends..........Herm