A Murderer Rests Among The Brave

Oh the idea's I get from having to take a shortcut to work through a cemetery. This one is based on true events.

Here lies a murderer among the brave
Among those who gave their lives for their country
Innocent blood penetrates the grave
Of he who served with gallantry.
A despot lies among the honorable
Where honor was earned in defending freedom
A despot who committed an act so incomprehensible
Ignoring all moral empathetic reason.
Here lies a monster who's hands took a life
He rests in a field where men won respect and glory
A man who took his own daughter's life with a knife
And left her in a state that's truly gory.
Twice a year he receives a flag
A simple thank you for your service
By the same men who want their name on the plaque
Of bravery, honor, men who serve with purpose.
Here lies a murderer who was hanged for his crime
A criminal who deserves no respect
A criminal who is now paying with eternal time
Here lies the body of a murder suspect.
One can only hope that he paid penance before execution
One can only hope he repented of this sin
That in the moments of the final retribution
There'd be a man who truly changed within.
Here rest the remains of a man who claimed innocence
Even though the mounting evidence proved him wrong
And even with extreme caution, care, and diligence
They buried a murderer where he doesn't belong.

Author's Note

This is kind of loosely based on a true story that happened here in Seattle, Washington in 1926. The murder of Sylvia Gaines in which her father was the main suspect who was hanged for the crime two years later. I use the word "loosely" here because there are some words I had to tweak a bit for rhyming sake. For example, in the poem I mention that she was murdered with a knife. In reality she was murdered by use of strangulation, drowning, and later on eventually was killed with rock.

What gave me the idea for this piece was that, upon the very first time I learned about this case, and that it literally happened just 3 miles south of my house, is that the murderer was executed by hanging for the crime, but was still allowed to be buried with full military honors. That part was just as intriguing as much as it was shocking to me at the same time. The murderer is buried in the Veterans Memorial part of the cemetery that's not even a mile east of my house. So this piece is rather more exploring the my emotion and how I reacted to that revelation that there is a murderer who is buried among the brave.

Reviews

[AaronFreitas]

Interesting take my friend. I really like it because it makes you think of a place where you lay your loved ones to rest. When you go to visit those loved once you cherish and reflect on the many memories you shared. Here in this peaceful resting place lies a man who was a killer and took it to his grave with him. I love the thoughts :)

[Aries1984]

Thanks for the review. Sorry I'm responding so late. The cemetery that houses a murderer in the Veterans section is actually right between my work place and my house. So sometimes (in the day time of course) I cut through it because it's a shortcut. I literally shredded 30 minutes off the clock walking right through it to get to work one very stormy morning. I normally bike to work, but on this particular day I didn't want to risk anything because the wind was so powerful. So I left my bike in the garage and walked all the way to work. I remember when I did the research for the theme of this poem, the actual murderer in question here. Back in 1926 a young woman was murdered by her father here in Seattle. It was considered to be the crime of the century for my State. I still remember my original reaction when I read that this murderer was allowed to be buried with full military honors and in the War Memorial section of the Evergreen Washelli Cemetery. I had had big, "Wait...WHAT?" moment there. It kind of made me think about how the soldiers from Fort Lewis-McCord and For Lawton come to this cemetery every Veterans Day and Memorial Day and they put all these flags in front of every soldiers/veteran's graves in that section of the cemetery, but they don't know that among the brave is buried a murderer. So I kind of seized the moment to write about that in a poetic way.

[B]

Cowards find hiding among the brave
perfect place to hide

[Aries1984]

Hey! Thanks for the comment. If you get a chance, take a look at the link about the case of the murder of Sylvia Gaines. The poem is about her father, who murdered her. This is local history to me of course. This case was dubbed the crime of the century for my State back in the 1920's. I got very interested in studying this case ever since I found out that Green Lake (which is the lake where Sylvia Gaines' body was found in 1926, and which is located literally 3 miles south of my house) is a paranormal hotspot. There have been claims by many night time joggers and walkers of Green Lake, of hearing the sound of a woman crying when there's nobody around on the northern part of the lake where she was murdered. What I found to be equally shocking as well as interesting is that Wallace C. Gianes (Sylvia Gaines father, the murderer) is that for some reason the American Legion (the group that decides whether a veteran should be buried with military honors, or awarded medals) gave Wallace Gaines the right to be buried with full military honors for his service during World War I. BUT! They did not want him to be buried among other veterans at the Evergreen Washelli Cemetery Veterans Memorial Park which is the cemetery that is literally not even a mile east of my house. So to this very day, his remains have not been removed. The remains most likely were never removed because of legal issues holding the cemetery owners from the legal right to do that without the consent of the deceased family members, or he most likely, none of his surviving family members wanted anything to do with him after learning one of their own committed murder. Anyway, this revelation was kind of shocking to me considering that Washelli's run two major events at the Veterans Memorial Park where they talk about the brave, and the history of the military medals throughout time, some of the Medal of Honors and Navy Cross' buried at that cemetery. It makes me think, the people who attend the Memorial Day and Veterans Day events there, do they know, that among the brave, is buried a murderer?

Anyway, here's the link to the case I just mentioned:
http://www.historylink.org/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&file_id=1051

[B]

ok i will
by the way you are an extremely interesting person
the way you think is cool

[Aries1984]

LOL! Thanks! I find ideas in places where some people would dare not trod I guess. I really love history. Especially local history. It's one of my top favorite subjects. So where someone only finds, darkness, death, and morbidity, like a cemetery, such places, to me are a treasure trove of history. And I guess I can and probably do come off to some folks as someone who is "morbid". In reality I'm not like that at all. I guess my own little secret philosophy in life is to present a different way of thinking about something that really seems only two sided to some people. That is what I hope to achieve in my writing.

You get very artistically creative in your writing. I'm gonna open up a little secret to you about me here. I'm personally not a fan of non-rhythmic poetry. A lot of it has to do with not knowing how to read it out loud. But your writing has been changing that in me, and challenging me in some ways. I know that I have yet to respond back to your poems that you sent me via read requests (I'm only just getting back into writing myself here and visiting this site more now that I'm out of school), but what I do love about the writing that I did review is that you are someone who LOVES words. So I can't wait to get back into reading your stuff in more full swing. Right now I'm just enjoying the time I'm having that I wound up missing out on for 4 and half years, with close friends and family.

[B]

thank you
always welcome