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To One Outspoken
for A.B.
If I had but a fraction of the zeal
That burns in you like a volcanic flame
And rings like a war-trumpet’s brazen peal
Enraptured by the truths it dares proclaim,
I doubt not my own righteous rage would deal
Deft, crushing thunder where it marks out blame,
Nor that the fire that stirs your tongue would steal
Upon the hands whence verse now flows so tame.
But not all can command the vanguard’s charge:
The knight needs infantry to hold the field;
The helmsman needs his oarsmen in the hold.
Hidden in heroes’ shadows looming large,
We march to fight and carry arms to wield
In their cause, just as zealous, just as bold.
.
.
Adam Sedia (b. 1984) lives in his native Northwest Indiana and practices law as a civil and appellate litigator. In addition to the Society’s publications, his poems and prose works have appeared in The Chained Muse Review, Indiana Voice Journal, and other literary journals. He is also a composer, and his musical works may be heard on his YouTube channel.
A beautiful sonnet, Adam. I’m always anxious to read your poems. The military imagery gives unity to the poem, and other similes and metaphors (“volcanic flame”; “crushing thunder”) are worked in gracefully. The idea of the flamed tongue stealing upon the hands of the poet as he writes is wonderful. And the thought that we can’t all be in the vanguard is true and encouraging.
Thank you! I wrote this piece as an exercise in self-encouragement and thought it might offer encouragement to others.
This is an inspiring sonnet, Adam — martial in its imagery and (despite the speaker’s deference) assertive in its message. The boldness of the language — the volcano, fire imagery, etc. — belies this speaker’s lack of leadership qualities. He belongs in the vanguard and, whether he accepts it or not, he IS in the vanguard. There is nothing weak about the humility he expresses and he makes a strong argument for team work, chain of command, acceptance of one’s role in a bigger picture. It bespeaks the polar opposite of narcissism.
Evan’s (I assume) photo of Patton is perfect for he was a man who led brilliantly and assertively but was humble in his private life and sought God’s guidance always.
It’s not quite on point, but your poem reminded me of Milton’s Sonnet 19 — “They also serve who only stand and wait.”
Great catch on the Milton reference. It was the Sonnet on His Blindness that gave me the idea to turn this thought into a poem. The selection of the Patton photo was all Evan and the editors. I am delighted with the selection, as Patton, I believe, was ultimately killed for his outspokenness.
I hope you send it to her.
I haven’t sent it, but now that you suggest it, I think I may.
Adam, I assume that you worked in, or were trained by, a white-shoe law firm.
I am not from the Ivies, so the “white-shoe” world is closed to me (not that that upsets me at all). I started out in a local practice that didn’t care what I said. Then as I moved up in the world I learned the hard way that there are professional consequences to expressing the “wrong” opinion. I could always go solo, but I would lose most of the interesting cases I’m working on. And even as a solo I am subject to the ever-looming presence of the disciplinary commissions of two states. A lawyer is never completely free to express his opinions. I want to say much more about this, but not in print.
Adam, this is an inspiring call to arms for support troops whose morale is just as important as a leader’s zeal. You are entirely correct about those hidden in heroic shadows. Their widely differing functions are necessary, and they need their own support from one another and those around them.
You may intend to speak of politics and poetry or other things, but I’ll apply military experience in communications. Even a raging vanguard unit needs a competent radio man, or its determination fails for uncertainty about the current mission. Keep up the good work!
Thank you! The military scenario you provide was exactly my grandfather’s experience in WWII. He worked in an airplane factory and received deferrals through the worst part of the war, then he felt guilty and let his deferral expire. But by then all there was for him to do was follow the front lines through the Pacific and set up radar towers and other communications devices. He saw no action, but I would call his role no less important than the combat soldiers he followed.
A skilfully written poem, and the message that we cannot all be trailblazers is true, and in its own way uplifting.
This poem evoked some memories I deemed well buried within my soul. Those memories of mine are not unique, but they are ageless or rather as old as humanity itself from that first time men were led in charge against another host. These last lines tore me and almost brought tears to my eyes.
“We march to fight and carry arms to wield
In their cause, just as zealous, just as bold”
Newspapers and journals publish flaming cause-promoting speeches by politicians, presidents, and commanders-in-chief. The men just march on, thousands of faces, never spoken out, and into oblivion with their personal untold stories of bravery amidst the filth and numbing labor of warfare. Collective memory since antiquity preserves and elevates the names of those heroes like, for instance, Spartan king Leonidas. What about his three hundred hoplites, each no doubt a hero in his own right? Great generals are probably only as great as their men. I wanted to compare this poem to the postmortem voice given to the fallen Spartans. In the Thermopile pass, there is a famous stone with curved out words “Traveller, carry the news to Sparta. Having fulfilled our duty faithfully, here we laid to rest”. This poem by Adam Sedia is ageless because it speaks for all those men who ever marched or will march for a great cause proclaimed by those whose names will be preserved in history.