Poem: The Unsung Heroes

Locked in the pages 
of stories and legends 
are slivers of truth 
about the bravery 
and the endurance 
of the common person
not always heroes
immortalized by
monuments of marble, 
whose names may not 
appear in popular 
annals of history
the ones who just try
to live in the wake
of tumultuous events
and whose goals
are not so lofty:
survive the aftermath
of others' folly.