Poetry Slam Poem #1 (Tamar, Amanda, Brad, Sam Ng)

1. Keeping Him Alive

Sitting on my grandfather's lap,
I look about the room
scanning the statues and carpets and overflowing bookshelves
a scene I know all too well, and I feel
comforted, as my grandfather speaks about a distant war,
a time I have never known, but somehow
the stories come alive.
His voice rises and falls to the beat of marching soldiers
he remembers a fallen friend
and the man whose life he took on his first and final shot.

He speaks proudly of his decision

To lay down his arms; to walk…and walk…and walk…

Until he found his General, and became a medic.

I’m proud of him, too.

He shows me the scar where the shrapnel spared him,

And shivers at the memory of a winter spent unconscious in the snow.

He falters; I can sense his sadness-

A sadness that endures for a lifetime.
He wants me to know these stories

So I listen because- I must know these stories:

But I was too young to understand
And maybe, I still am. Yet,
I will continue to keep his story alive:
Grandpa, I won't let you down.