Maryam Alikhani
Maryam Alikhani holds a Ph.D. from Teachers College, Columbia University and an M.F.A. from the City College of New York. She is an award winning poet, professor, scholar, and translator. She has been anthologized in the Anthology of the Americas Poetry Festival of New York and Versos Estivales. Her poetry has appeared in numerous journals including Esque Mag, Poetry in Performance, Promethean, The Poetry of Yoga, etc. She writes her poems usually in English, sometimes in Persian, and occasionally in Spanish. Previously she taught writing across the curriculum, world literature, and ESL in New York universities; currently she teaches poetry, creative writing, American literature, and English composition at the County College of Morris in New Jersey.
This poem was written during the exhibition of Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial Moving Wall at the County College of Morris, in July 2022. It is dedicated to Veterans, POWs, and MIAs.
Eternal Names
Their names are on the wall
Their souls above us
Watching us
Guarding us
Fighting for us
For our values
Liberty
Justice
Truth
And peace
We honor them
Love them
Pray to the compassionate creator of the universe
In any name: God, Yahweh, Allah, Khoda, …
To bless them
Their souls
Their services
The United States of America
And the reign
Of peace
I go through their names
My fellow citizens
My brothers, fathers, and sons
I imagine my uncle’s name’s there
Even though he was shot
In a different war and skin tone
His blood sank in the sand
The same pure deep red
Not a shade darker
Not a shade lighter
His body never returned to his empty grave
But his name engraved on a plaque
Is eternal
Like peace
The wars end
The prisoners return
The bodies decay
The names remain
In peace