BURY HIM
Reading edition
Bury him! Not where the rough, raw earth With his fathers’ bones is filled, Nor bury him there where the old chiefs’ blood On the rich, rolled plain is spilled, And bury him not where he’ll be forgot, With the reason for which he was killed, But, bury him. Bury him. Bury him not in a lonely plot In the midst of the fools who cried Of his race and his face, and forgot every trace Of the reason for which he died, While the heart of the nation’s demoralization Began to ascend as it sighed, “Bury him. Bury him.” Bury him well. Let the bugler tell To the listening wind and the wood How an Indian boy, who was somebody’s joy And the pride of a small neighborhood, Met his death in the yell of a Korean hell, And, returned to his home, was accused Of his race and his place in a nation’s disgrace, And his burial there was refused. Let the volley resound and the hollows be found To re-echo the bugle and gun, Till the echoes grow dim and we know that in him We bury all men in this one. For we bury the stain when we bury the slain In these wars that are yet to be won. Bury him, then, where such comrades shall lie Side by side in the long marbled sleep, As have longed long for sleeping, and there in their keeping Assign him the grave he shall keep. In that company of others, his spiritual brothers, Whose tears all were salt when they’d weep. Bury him. Bury him. Bury him mournfully, he who was scornfully Thought to be brought to disgrace among men. Bury heroically here all the stoically Suffered injustice and wrong that has been. Bury the dead and defeated, repeated Mistakes that have tumbled our honor again. Bury the past with its hate and its slaughter, And from this sweet grave make beginning. Come, then, Bury him! Bury him!
$2.50
THE DEATH OF THE SCHARNHORST And Other Poems by Arch Alfred McKillen
In the powerful narrative poem which furnishes the title for this impressive first volume, Arch Alfred McKillen tells the dramatic story of the sinking of the German battleship Scharnhorst, during World War II—an important day for the Allied Forces.
These poems could have been written only by a man who has experienced deeply the emotions of which he writes. War is not the only subject of Mr. McKillen’s poems. He writes of love; and indignation prompts him to write strongly against racial prejudice. Sharpness and simplicity of style contribute greatly to the forceful effects which he achieves. Too often a reader’s enjoyment of poetry is marred by obscurity of meaning, but the clarity of thought and euphony of expression of the author, in this volume, leave no doubt in the reader’s mind of his intent.
Reading The Death of the Scharnhorst and Other Poems will be a memorable experience for poetry lovers.
A VANTAGE BOOK
About the Author ...
Arch Alfred McKillen was born in Chicago, in 1914. Upon completion of high school, he went to work in a wire-winding factory. Later he worked in a mail-order house, and as a bonded messenger.
In 1939, Mr. McKillen enlisted in the United States Navy. He was stationed aboard the U.S.S. Tennessee at Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941, when the Japanese attacked. Later, he served aboard other battleships in both the Pacific and the Atlantic, and finally was transferred to a Logistic Support Company on Okinawa.
Mr. McKillen is now a bookseller. In his spare time he is doing research for his next book.
VANTAGE PRESS, INC., 230 W. 41 Street, New York 36.
