In time of sorrow in time of grief
when you cannot find relief,
When all seems lost
and you realize the sacrificial cost,
you search and search yet do not see
and you wonder why you continue to be.
For in your own eyes you have failed
as the times of your life before you sail,
The soul cries, the spirit wails
Just when you think you are all alone
When there is no way on earth you can touch the stone
Think again my brothers, think again.

Early in the morning hours
I stopped in solitude to lay some flowers,
No one around;
not a solitary sound,
just the beat of my heart,
the tears from my eyes.
The cold black stone echoed my muffled cries,

and then the glow.

Startled I looked up and saw your name
I stood before you without guilt, or shame
I reached; I touched then traced your name
Your face, in an instant, before me came.
The pain had gone. Peace overwhelmed me
for the first time since Vietnam I felt free.
Then I smelled the fragrance of heaven’s incense.
My crutches fell, my legs no longer bent
I stood upright, in the dead of night
In the arms of an Angel, held so tight,
I thought I’d lost it, I thought I’d fall
Then I Saw Her -
The Angel of the Wall.

Peace My Brother, Peace.