declaration

diver training

truth commission delegation

We enjoyed a summer day hike together in the pine barrens
Following along the tidal stream flowing to the bay shore.
We enjoyed an al fresco dinner in town as the sun set
Then strolled to the beach and went barefoot.

Such a beautiful sight of the gibbous moon in the big sky
In and out behind the clouds, shining far out on the sea,
The gentle waves tickling our feet walking the shoreline,
We are two happy people falling in love late in life.

Such a place to call forth memories of another beach
Where your emotions filled you as full as this moon,
A beach in Korea on the other side of the world
And two people there you carry with you in your heart.

She was your compatriot delegate investigating war crimes.
He was meeting you both on the beach in the darkness.
She had faithfully visited him all those years in jail
And now they talked and talked of many personal things.

Was he underground, setting a meeting out of sight?
For sure he was a witness to a massacre of his village
There in the hills fifty years ago, him a partisan fighter.
What he wanted most now was for the truth to see the light of day.

You and the Truth Commission delegation go to that hillside,
The television cameras show you there in a macabre scene,
Digging up skeleton after skeleton from the mass grave,
Showing the world what the “liberators” did and then hid.

Being there, digging up those bodies, how awful for you.
Being there, helping to uncover the dark secret, how good for you.
Being there on the ground with the delegation, with your two friends,
That was a life changing experience.

Tonight you tell me about what happened there
As we gaze out into the far distance feeling the evening shore breeze
With the moon revealing the great expanse of ocean
And I am transported into your innermost regions.

brigantine sanctuary