On Armistice Day

The guns fell silent
all those years ago
They started up again
a few years later

The guns fell silent
as they eventually do
After many people
have fallen silent

We remember
those that fought
those that fell victim
We try to learn

We remember
by old stones
by memorials
all their names

Yet do we learn
We promise to
but always fail
to learn the lesson

The guns fell silent
that day in November
Let's hope one day
It'll be for good

The Wall came down

The Wall came down
with the sound of breaking glass
the roar of fire
consuming reason

Jude
is not a first name
It's a German word
meaning * JEW *

The Wall came down
after 70 years
of dictatorship
and human failure

The Star of David
an emblem
of persecution
a harbinger of death

The Wall came down
After a mere three wars
Two hot
one cold

The Swastika
auspicious symbol
for mass murder
on an industrial scale

The Wall came down
on Reichskristallnacht
I cannot celebrate
only commemorate

Remembrance Sunday 2014

There we stood
two hundred strong
the sun smiled
at us in silence

There we stood
to attention - at ease - easy
remembering those
who did just that a century ago

Words do not matter
at a time like that
Just a plaster
on old wounds

I looked around
after the wreaths
were laid
and the prayers said

A rainbow
beyond the estuary
a more potent symbol
than any mortal words

What would they
have given to only
once more
see the hills again

Crowned by
near wintery
grey palls
over the endless moor

For King and Country
A land fit for heroes
They gave their today
Are we worthy of our tomorrow?

There we stood
in a benign November sun
Their names on bronze tablets
as the Last Post rang out

We will remember them

We will remember them

None now remain
who were prepared
but did not need
to lay down their life

Few now remain
who remember
those that fell
as living memories

Many remain
whose mortal remains
have a resting place
known only unto God

In the mud
of Flanders Fields
under the waves
of the seven seas

Some remain
whose resting place is known
but whose name
known only unto God

I stand by the sea
on the sandy dune
or on the crumbling cliff
looking out over waves

The rutted track
The rusty gate
The upright stones
We will remember them