The Ones We Don’t Forget by George Wallace

this one would not paddle a boat

this one would not bait a hook

this one slept on the side of a mountain

this one swam in a minnesota lake

this one grew as tall as a cornfield

this one traveled to new orleans

this one had the arms of a blacksmith

this one's hair was thick as smoke

these trainloads of young men

these trainloads of young women

these trainloads of young women

these trainloads of young men

this one sat on a porch for hours

this one ate like an alligator

this one cried over algebra

this one laughed in pouring rain

i cannot spell this out more clearly

i cannot be more precise than this

this one died for no reason

this one died for a friend

this one died in an alleyway

this one's childhood had to end

these are the ones we don't forget

these are the ones we will remember

we sing their names like trumpets

we sing their names like saints or nails

we sing their names like fountains

we sing their names like graves

in new york and texas and california

in mississippi and oregon and ames and maine

the ocean will support them on its watery shoulders

the sky will carry them on its windy hips

like the first woman to cross the face of this earth

as they cross over the line of battle

from your war to our peace

http://poetry.about.com/library/weekly/blgwallace.htm