LAST APRIL 25TH

The Australian nation comes to a standstill on this day each year to remember our war dead and the sacrifices made by service men and women and their families during our long history of international conflicts. The haunting 'Last Post' is bugled in cities, towns and villages right across the land as we all pray that no more parents, spouses and children will have to endure the suffering of the past. However, in our hearts we know full well that that prayer is unlikely to ever become a reality.

P.L.

Silent tears had been shed,
Caused by words that were read,
And when the bugle had begun to blow;
So when the crowd had dispersed,
My thoughts soon immersed,
Into memories of a long time ago.

As I strolled down by the shore,
Reminiscing flashbacks of war,
It was just about breaking dawn;
I thought back to that time,
About young men in their prime,
And wondered where had all those years now gone.

Reds and gold mixed with blues,
And traces of all other hues,
A panorama right across the sea;
The surface just like a lake,
A sleepy town not awake,
No one present, except only me.

A new day was now dawning,
On this Anzac Day morning,
Images of a beach, far away;
Yet no screaming and dying,
Guns barking, bullets flying,
After all, this was not Suvla Bay.

A stranger emerged from the dark,
Walked down from the park,
And shook my hand and said: "Well done!"
I thanked him with a smile,
Chattered there for awhile,
And walked off into the then rising sun.

As I ambled along,
With my few medals that shone,
I pondered about what war had to teach;
And 'twas sad to confess,
Not very much, was my guess,
Perhaps peace is beyond all reach.

And those flowers that adorn,
Those ribbons that are worn,
Will there be more again at next year's?
Will again young men be dying,
New parents distraught and left crying?
Will the rhetoric still ring in our ears?
 

© Paul La Forest

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