But the merriest of months is not all merry:

            On its last day but one, on the verge of

                        June, we turn aside to think of those

            Unable to be with us, for good reason,

            Couched in sleep, the fastest of all sleeps,

            Beyond arousal.

            This is their day, wherever they may be,

            The men of our big and little wars, who

                        fell on hard ground, or in grass, or

                        clawed at sand, or stained snow red,

                        or stumbled among jungle vines, or

                        dropped out of the sky, or went down

                        in the drink.

            This is their day.

“Memorial Day” broadcast May 1983 on NPR