58,267 (Poem)

"The Wall"

Vietnam Veterans Memorial

Washington, D.C.

Aerial Photograph by U.S. Geological Survey

58,267

is a number

having no meaning

unless you were there

or knew someone

who was there

who did not come back

from the longest war.

To get the history

you have to go

back to the beginning,

to 1956, June 8,

before I was four,

and start with the first

name of the first killed

and stretch your eyes

to the east

to 1968, May 25,

before I was 16 and writing

to my drafted brother's buddies,

some in my memory

in that place where the list,

like the Wall, seems to recede

into ground, then to resume

on the same date

in the west,

and go on to the last

name of the last killed
in 1975, May 15,

before I was 23, on holiday.

We've been years tracing names

where beginning meets end

at the vertex,

the war done

 but the loss not complete,

earth still being broken.

© 2011 Maureen E. Doallas

__________________________

As of 2010,  when six names were added, 58,267 is the number of names currently on the Wall.

The most complete information about the Wall, which was designed by Maya Lin, is found here. The polished black granite East wall (pointing to the Washington Monument) and West wall (pointing to the Lincoln Memorial) may be searched online to locate a name and its place on the memorial.