NOVEMBER: THE MONTH FOR REMEMBERING

We remember,

and not just at the going down of the sun

do we see again these mangled bodies

and hear the screams of broken minds

or the tears of weeping hearts,

all easily labelled “the victims of war.”

 

Not one war,

but global conflicts

constantly scarring our frail securities

and taking us to places

we would rather avoid.

 

And yet we journey, year by year

into this remembrance

for it is  our story, and good folk

have given their lives for it.

 

The poppies may be red or white;

the grief personal or wider arched,

but let us pause -

for in our depths we know so well

that the tears in November

are not just for someone else.

                                   Peter Millar, Edinburgh, 1^st November 2013.