- Malcolm M. Sedam
- Stone Gulch Poetry Memorial
Between Wars
Malcolm M. Sedam
(1921-1976)
The following poems are from Between Wars, Paul Edward Pross, Chicago 1967. Dedicated to Joseph Satterwhite [Professor of English at Ball State University] "who gave me the power to believe."
Instead of a prose introduction, Sedam introduces his first published poetry collection with the following "Declaration":
I believe
In fact I know it is so
That the time for acting has come
And I must play all of the parts;
Cast in this trauma of lines
The danger is saying too much
Yet I fear more
That silence or soliloquy
That deadens the soul,
So I grow more and less
Baptized with fire
Searching for a purpose
In pleasure and pain
Moving always toward the unknown —
I will be lover — poet — warrior
Warmer — wiser — dead
But on this stage all truth is shown
And now I know why I was born
Neither too young nor too old
Just right for this war.
Death Song
The sun will shine in the sky forever . . .
I emptied my guns while I bled —
The earth will grow new grass forever . . .
I plunged to the ground in flames —
Mt. Fugi will rise from the plain forever . . .
Let my bones rest on her side.
Death of a Marine
Watching the imperial call
Draining away his will
The thing I remember most:
The incredible blue of his eyes,
More than the blood-soaked shirt
More than the shell-torn isle
More than the greater war
In our last words:
"You'll see a better day," I started;
He smiled and was gone.
For Freedom
How fantastic is war
But more the military mind,
That epitome of pride
That turns the Spartan mill
And grinds everything
Into a grey nothing . . .
Remembering how we looked
As a measureless mass
And knew we no longer existed.
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