Gallipolli, May 2008.
He washed his feet as I entered the cemetery
having put his jacket on the bench nearby
and his hat placed gently on the arm rest.
He turned the faucet to release more water
then looked up at me as I walked past him.
I looked away up the hill at the monument
to the Fifty-seventh Regiment whose soldiers
laid before me resting in peace under rows
of marble stones showing their hallowed names.
I sat on the edge of one of the rows of graves
framed by lovingly-tended flowers and roses.
These graves of Turks were as tenderly cared for
as the graves fo the Johnnies near the Lone Pine
looking lonesome as the man who now finished
put on his shoes, his jacket, his hat, and knelt
next to me with his palms raised toward God
and wept, our tears falling down our cheeks.
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