A Little Longer Poem by Jim Yerman

Today we close our eyes,
we stand,
we sit
we get down on bended knee
to honor and to mourn the soldiers
who gave their lives to keep our country free.

Men and women who didn't start out as heroes
but under the tension…the worry, the stress…
evolved, in those anxious moments, into heroes nonetheless…

And we thank our fallen heroes
who have made our country stronger…
not by being braver than the rest…
but perhaps….by being brave a little longer.