I don’t listen to the news much

doesn’t matter to me

what they’re saying

about what’s right or wrong

all I know is

I’m an American

doing my job here everyday

working granite headstones

for Arlington

it’s all about

getting the name right

doing cuts deep enough

to get the air out

beneath those stencil letters

making sure there’s no

fault lines or air pockets

our sandblaster might find

no black or brown shadows

buried there seeping through

they tell us only white

for Arlington

they call it the garden

took my family there once

figured we ought to see

where these markers stand

saw someone’s mother there

holding on like it was

her son’s shoulders

tears dripping down

and the headstone’s keeping her

from falling over.

This article appears in Aug 9-15, 2006.