Thirty-four beats for my haiku fetishist ways.    Exactly  Perfect!

I could not think of a better introduction to today’s sonnet.  Attributed to George Orwell,  Rudyard Kipling, or Winston Churchill.  But in truth, it seems this gem was uttered by the great Winston Churchill.

The sonnet that follows, is from a discussion that I had with a good friend–one of those rough men who stand ready to protect us all.  He’s made a promise, unlike any other job, that he cannot break.

This precocious offering is very fitting for 9/11

I cannot guarantee, when these sonnets go up  on their appointed dates, that I will refrain from lucasing them.  At least for a week, after several nights’ sleep, I may revisit them.

The fact is, I tend to see grammatical elements which will create cohesion and consistency after I sleep a few nights.  In the same way, I see words that eluded me a day or two or three before:  the better or missing internal rhyme:  the proper word which expresses a concept more directly or accurately; the proper punctuation which I had missed; although I’d gone over and over my words before the first publication.  Lovely thing, the digital age.  Just ask George Lucas!   Seriously though, technology is wonderful just as long as you don’t go all George Lucas on everything you create.

I feel as though I am writing to “The Unknown Soldier,” hence “thy” rather than “you” or “ye.”  This also explains why I would refer to his gravestones rather than just his one gravestone.  The Unknown Soldier has many gravestones.