The Thin Blue Line

                                                         A Decoration Day Poem

Fling out your banners of red, white and blue

     From window, from porch and from mast;

Fling widely the stars and the wavering bars

Till the skies have a glorious cast.

Remember the deeds of the soldiers agone,

     Who long since have answered the call;

Remember the souls who still answer the “rolls”,

     But whose numbers are woefully small.

Bring flowers in plenty to cover the ground,

     Ground sacred by deeds of the past;

Rob hothouse and crest of the brightest and best,

     And scatter them thickly and fast.

The heroes of land, and the heroes of sea,

     Their graves let us generously strew;

And over each mound, with reverence profound,

     Let us fasten the red, white and blue.

Oh, give up the day, this glorious day,

     To reverent thoughts of the dead;

To the honor and cheer of the heroes still here,

     To the colors that float overhead.

Oh close up the workshop and close up the store,

     And dress in your neatest and best;

And march to the graves of the calm, sleeping braves,

     Who have earned a most glorious rest.

Oh fling out your banners of red, white and blue

     From window, from porch and from vine,

And cheer as they go, their old hearts aglow,

     The heroic but thin, blue line.

They fought for our freedom, they fought for our homes,

     They fought for the honor of all;

Let us honor the ones who still shoulder the guns

     And the ones who have answered the call.

March 25, 1912