There were a few hours in between shows at Arlington, VA, and Washington D.C. of The Mesenchymal Reprisal Poetry Tour where a group of us had a chance to tour the area. Due to the current political climate in Washington, I wasn’t interested in seeing the capital or the White House. If I wanted to see buffoonery, I would catch a carney show in Pensyltucky.
I have several family and friends buried at Arlington National Cemetery, most whom I have never visited their final resting place. Cameron Woolard is a cousin of mine on my mother’s side of the family who tragically lost his life on January 24, 2021. An Afghanistan war veteran, Cameron served with the 101st Airborne Division during both Operation Enduring Freedom as well as Operation Resolute Support.
An idea was tossed around about doing a memorial reading for Cameron. I was slightly hesitant about doing it but after some contemplation, I decided to proceed with the idea. In order to enter Arlington National Cemetery, you have to go thru security at the visitor center. Parking is just outside of the visitor center, the fee is $3/hr. There is also a Metro stop just outside of the grounds as well.
While security inside the visitor center was hospitable, the traffic security inside of the cemetery definitely was not. Unless you are a member of a funeral procession, you are not allowed to drive within the Arlington Cemetery grounds. This is understandable, while the cemetery does receive a substantial number of visitors, it obviously isn’t a tourist trap. Regardless, traffic security did give me some flack about getting over to the area even though I am a relative of Cameron’s and I had the exact location of his final resting place. After dealing with all of that, I eventually made it to the Columbarium where he is inurned.
There was a pretty decent turn out of observers as well as a few poets who wanted to read a few things. The event was an informal affair, no certain lineup list, very casual etc. I started the event off by presenting my contributions of reading “The 149th Chorus” from Jack Kerouac’s “Mexico City Blues”, followed by the “The 228th Chorus” from the same selection. I concluded my set by reading “the biography of Christian O’Keefe” from my own selection. I had a feeling that Christian and Cameron would have been great friends if they ever met in human form but are probably hanging out together in Forevereverland.
I haven’t recorded any readings on any of the tours that I have been on this year so far, but I decided to upload this event for posterity reasons.
And there you have it. RIP kid.
Until next time ‘Merica.
Transgressions in Transubstantiation: The Mantras of Jameson Bayles 
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