Memories Passed Away

Memories Passed Away

Dilapidated buildings stand In scrub where once was even grass, Lawn manicured the Army way. Untended now for fifty years By laid-off workers of the day. Their memories have passed away.

The bombs they made were tools of war, And war was canceled for the time. Years? Thirty-six to closing day. The plant made bombs with buildings spread To stop a blast from blowing all. Their memories have passed away.

And Mother worked there way back when. She organized, dealt with labor. She watched a building blow one day. Her rear-view mirror witnessed all As roof was lifted, people dead. Their memories have passed away.

The dead had jobs for forever. Not so the workers at that plant. She laid off others on their day Until her number came to go, And then she joined the unemployed. Those memories have passed away.

Those buildings are all empty now. Urban explorers film and post Not knowing what they see and play, While wondering what was made back when The thousands worked to keep us free. Those memories have passed away.

And Mother lives with assistance And says again about the girl Who brought her meal to her today. Fourth time she's told that tale to me In twenty minutes on the phone. Her memory has passed away.

As she is left with only now, Her mind as empty as that plant Where once great thoughts and rhymes did play, But time swept clean and planted weeds She grasps and claws to save her day. Her memories have passed away.

This was inspired by YouTube, if you would believe it. The almighty algorithm offered me a video on one of Illinois' old ordnance factories since I watch history videos. It got me curious to look up the one closer to where I grew up and where my mother used to work. I have now watched several videos about that place. The old grounds have been divided into several parts, including a national cemetery. Much of it is now a tallgrass prairie reserve. But many of the old buildings are still there, and people have posted videos exploring what is left. Also, some older folks who used to work there have posted videos that go over old maps of the facility and pictures. There are also videos from the 1940s when it first opened and was part of the Arsenal of Democracy. They can be fascinating. The maps were particularly fascinating, since they showed how far apart the buildings were from each other. And the obvious reason was that they did not want one explosion kicking off a chain reaction through the whole place. There was a lot of thought that went into the design.

As for my mother, she worked there fifty years ago. She was originally running a clerical pool, and had them organized so well that she got bored. She went into labor relations instead. As a labor relations representative, she visited many of the buildings. And in the case of one of her visits, she left a building and drove away just as it blew up. (No, she had nothing to do with the explosion.) And they didn't call in psychological counselors afterwards back in the 1970s at an ammunition plant. She continued working there as the plant was shut down after the Vietnam Action. Then, being part of what we would now call human resources, she helped process others out before her job, too, was eliminated.

As for the last few verses, as I have heard some say, "Old age ain't for sissies."

Have you ever gone back to explore an old home or a place you used to work?