"BOLD, CAUTIOUS, TRUE, AND MY LOVING COMRADE"

Most days I read The Writer's Almanac with Garrison Keiillor, thanks to my friend Cathy's urging. Today's poem is by Walt Whitman:

As Toilsome I Wander'd Virginia's Woods

As toilsome I wander'd Virginia's woods,
To the music of rustling leaves kick'd by my feet, (for 'twas
autumn,)
I mark'd at the foot of a tree the grave of a soldier;
Mortally wounded he and buried on the retreat, (easily all
could I understand,)
The halt of a mid-day hour, when up! no time to lose—yet
this sign left,
On a tablet scrawl'd and nail'd on the tree by the grave,
Bold, cautious, true, and my loving comrade.

Long, long I muse, then on my way go wandering,
Many a changeful season to follow, and many a scene of life,
Yet at times through changeful season and scene, abrupt,
alone, or in the crowded street,
Comes before me the unknown soldier's grave, comes the
inscription rude in Virginia's woods,
Bold, cautious, true, and my loving comrade.

Walt Whitman.

As we are yet engaged in two wars on foreign soil, bold, cautious, true, and loving comrades fall still today. Time to bring the troops home.


Tomb of the Unknowns - Arlington National Cemetery