AT THE GOING DOWN OF THE SUN

Remembrance service today,
Lots of old faces, many not seen for a long time.
The centenary has really brought people out
and hopefully got another generation thinking.
We dedicated a new memorial to the fallen

I spoke with parents of a lad I knew
Who hasn't come home.
As a parent now,
with a daughter not much younger than he was
I can't imagine how it must feel.

I see us withdraw
and wonder if the politicians got it right.
A slightly more contemporary poem
Because it hasn't ended.


LAST POST
Spats cover

Polluted boots

With a Sam Browne strapped

To a spit and polish belt

Tightened by the sergeant

Holding him there

Completely trapped.

Deathly still

Helmand

Mourning loss

Hobnailed by the flagpole

With a drooping ensign

In a two-minute silence

like three hours on a cross.

Numb lips

This November

And another year

As the guns die down

in posthumous salute

While the note splits

In the mouth of momentary fear.

The bugle fades

Echoing round

As darkness descends

On Greenwich Mean Time

Across Whitehall

And the sands of an Afghan desert

While Calvary shares the silence.

Crinkled leaves

Float down

On their parachute trip

With legions of poppies

Papered for today

As a tear rolls down

To a stiff upper lip.

Teeth chatter

Feet freeze

With winter ahead

On count-down to Reveille

And the beginning of spring

While sheathed swords

Honour the glorious dead.

Paul du Plessis
2009.