Through the blackness
glow scarlet gashes on the mountain
Drivers on the winding highway
sniff the smoke , entranced
by danger dancing above
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It’s hard to keep your eyes on the road when the hills above you are blazing!
It’s also nerve-wracking for an asmatic to be anywhere near burning, controlled or not. (and we think this was controlled).
“Every one is going, Mom!”
“You have to do your duty, Son.”
“We desperately need the money, Hon.”
“It’ll all be jolly good fun,
and over scarce moments once it’s begun!”
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Voices echo, arms wave farewell,
as adventurous lads descend into hell.
They see what boys should never see
March in when the sensible would turn and flee
They rise each day at reveille
to create a future for you and me
Built on their fear, their pride, their aim
To fight whether they be slain.
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When men return, once battles end
They toast their comrades and their friends
Through years of anguish in the night
When dreams return them to the fight
Today we salute them, the wounded boys
the men of valour, whose youth was deployed
into a horror of noise and mud
baptizing them with gore and blood
So we can stand before the cenotaph
To honour their sacrifice on our behalf.
We do not glorify their war
but we know what they were fighting for.
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To the boys who left home, to the men who returned whole or broken, in thanks.
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Here’s a link to the song “Soldier Boy” by The Pids. I went to high school with Stu Aspinall, who will donate a portion of all iTunes sales of this song to PTSD services for returned combatants.
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Here is my other favourite Remembrance Day tune, also by Eric Bogle. The marching in April that he refers to is for ANZAC Day which is the memorial day for Australian and New Zealand troops fighing in Gallipolli during WW1.
This video was put together by a Canadian teacher for a Remembrance Day assembly at her Middle School. This song represents so much: Respect for those who fought. Sadness at the loss of young lives. Desire for peace to keep it from happening again. Frustration that we still have war.
I remember in the 1970s when I’d go to the cenotaph with my dad, how sad it was that fewer and fewer people attended every year, but these days, it’s heart warming how large the crowds are. So many families with small children attend, which they didn’t when I was a kid. I was used to being the only young person there, aside from the cadets .
Enjoy this one. It’s poignant, powerful, and beautiful.
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I’ll link to this one, via a site that actually has permission to reprint this poem. 🙂
I have had a little plaque that says “Dwell in possibility” for several years now, and only today did I get around to actually looking up the poem itself. Wow. Kinda a profound! It also fits with my philosophy of life. Check it out:
Eric Bogle wrote my two favourite Remembrance Day songs. I always weep while I play or sing sing them. Beautiful and poignant pieces that explore huge themes. While we acknowledge the sacrifices of those who went away to war, we must also recognize the need to better ways to deal with conflict. When dealing with bullies, it’d be nice if discussion would bring about resolution, but so often, they only understand a big stick. It is the worst thing about humanity. The fact that people are willing to deal with those bullies, for whatever motivation, is still sadly necessary. So, here is Eric Bogle’s “Green Fields of France.”
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I’m making this up as I go along
You in the other place
Singing echoing off the walls
in an imaginary paradise.
You in the other place
Eden entwined between
sheets and dreams
making it up as we go along
Walking across the sky light
in hob nail boots
wings unfolding like black cape
Crow visits the bird house.
It’s time to re-visit this great video from Banff National Park.
This is just cool. Wildlife taking self-portraits at Banff National Park.
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Angel on a pin
en pointe on the point
solo, pas de deux, or en compagnie
Dance
Shawn L. Bird 