Old Guard

Old Guard


Nigh onto seventy years,
for twenty-four hours a day,
sentinels have walked
a measured cadence
guarding
The Tomb of the Unknown
in Arlington Cemetery.

21 Steps, face the Tomb,
pause for 21 seconds,
turn, 21 steps. Repeat.

Honor above all.
Honor does not falter.
Honor simply is:
no compromise, no quarter given.

Blizzard with sixty-mile per hour winds
with several feet of snow expected.
The Guard will stand its watch:
undaunted, unfazed, unerring.

21 Steps, face the Tomb,
pause for 21 seconds,
turn, 21 steps. Repeat.

21 lines (of course)

https://www.comesasoldierswhisper.com/tomb-of-the-unknown-soldier-the-21-steps/

*Sidenote: My family has the bugle blown at the Tomb of the Unknowns 1st dedication. My dad, myself and my daughter, veterans all, have each laid a wreath there.