I Almost Cried Today Poem by Dwight Jenkins

I almost cried today, thinking of a friend I know
     Who will never know what I was thinking unless
I tell him. But it was so very long ago...
     And why? He wasn't at that address
When they silently died, profoundly ready to go
     To a place that most knew little of, and some less.
Soon it will be twenty-two years he does not know
     Of the rocking of the ship and the yawning witness
Who saw just a ball of flame in the pre-dawn hour
     Between sunlight and moon, starlight and sea
In the fading half-world of young men's power.
     And then they were gone, the tower
Searching waves for days, the water closing quietly
     Over smiles and pride, victory's sweet and sour.

And I? I simply counted their leftover dollars below decks
Yes, I changed them all back into government checks 
For their loved ones at home, missing loved ones' strong necks...
All was done in the space of an hour.