Angels Among Us

Who are you fallen soldier,

whose name I do not know,

Is your youthful dream of glory 

buried beneath  fields of melting snow?

Do you hear our somber drumbeats?

Do you hear our sober song?

Do you feel our doleful heartache

that you are dead and gone?

We will not forget you fallen comrade!

Though long years be washed away,

forever you are in our hearts

and forever there you’ll stay!

This poem was written by William James, a character from my most recent verse novel,

Flooded Requiem for Johnstown. Flooded tells the story of the Johnstown Flood, a devastating breach that  occurred the day after Memorial Day in 1889.  Then known as Decoration Day, this day of remembrance was originally established to remember those who died in the Civil War.

The South Fork Dam had been built 14 miles above the industrial city of Johnstown PA. When it collapsed  on May 31st, 1889,  2,209 people,  including 99 entire families and 396 children perished. Many of these victims were never identified. 

Listed as missing and never identified was William James, aged 10, from Market Street. Perhaps Willy was Unknown # 88, noted only in the morgue book as a boy with dark hair. Or maybe #445, boy in short pants with button shoe. Or #65. Or 89. Or 159. 505.  507—

William James was ten when he died, a schoolboy with his whole life ahead of him. In my imagination, William James was also poet who wrote and recited the above poem at the Decoration Day ceremony on May 30, 1889.

Today is Memorial Day, once known as Decoration Day. Because the books I write change me, because the characters I create remain with me, today, as we rightly remember those who have died in the many wars that followed the Civil War, I am also remembering William James and the inhabitants of Johnstown. Like those who perish in war, Willy and the other victims of the Johnstown Flood were taken from us far too soon.