One Day of the Year - Nov 11 2021

 

One Day of the Year

Nov 11 2021

Veterans   

          . . . Armistice  

                            . . . Remembrance.

The eleventh day of the eleventh month

by whatever name,

when the survivors

may finally tell the stories

they’ve kept to themselves

since the horror ended.

Or more likely won't.

Because it's best to let it go.

Because remembering

causes too much pain.

Because it's too hard to explain,

and only one who was there

could understand, anyway.

The fallen, of course, have nothing to say.

Meanwhile, the politicians and pundits,

the populists and jingoists,

the wannabes and profiteers

and cynically pandering nationalists

are all hawkish for war.

But those who've been there know better;

that war is a last resort,

and there are no winners

ever.

One day out of the year

when we reflect on sacrifice

and thank them for their service.

Bent old men

with medals on their chest,

who march stiffly

and with trembling hands 

salute their long lost friends.

While small children watch

in the cold and rain,

uncertain who they are

and why they look so grave.

But assume that they were born old

and always looked this way.

While the fallen, of course

are forever young.

Commemorated by the poppies

that grow between the graves,

on the fertile land

of blood-soaked fields

littered with human remains.

A plant that only germinates 

in freshly disturbed soil,

so may have lain there dormant

for decades before.

As the untended bones

of the unknown soldiers

are also interred.

Or at least until a farmer's plough

cutting its furrow

turns them out,

a killer frost

heaves them up like stones.

No longer a field, but a graveyard

of desecrated remains

and toppled monuments.

But there will be no resurrection

for those lives cut short

in the flower of youth.

And no peace for the veterans

who dislike remembering

but cannot forget.

Who, even in this minute of silence

cannot suppress

the voices in their heads,

the loud concussion of guns

still echoing in their ears.

While for the rest of us

one day out of the year

to remember and reflect.

One minute to stop

and show our respect

before moving on.