(no subject)
So, today i sat at home watching the Remembrance Day ceremony in ottawa on tv. Every year i either sit in and watch it, or i go down the block to where the local ceremony happens on my street. (I live on a street where three Canadian soldiers once lived; volunteered for duty in WWI, and received the Victoria Cross ((Think American Medal of Honour except not American)).
So each year i do my own thing to remember, and this year I watched the national ceremony. And reflected. They had on these 3 highschool students from across canada, one with an essay, one with a poster, and another with a poem. The poem i thought, summed it up best. For someone in highschool to come up with something that has this kind of meaning (at least to me it all made sense), i was impressed, so I am going to share it with you.
This was written by Andrea Murray from Benalto AB.
Wisps of Memory
Courage! they cried. For Country! and died.
Mud plasters my front, cold wind whips my back
Brace yourselves, lads, its another attack!
We leap from the pits, our guns ready to fire
Bravado drains steadily with the sweat we perspire.
Courage! they cried. For Country! and died.
Feather light touches, a close brush with death
Another bullet sings by with a quickly drawn breath.
My aim ne’er wavered, my death-knell rang true-
But always we wondered whose brother we slew.
Courage! they cried. For Country! and died.
Each new trembling step, each next furtive mile
Death marched among us and flashed her grim smile.
The lumps in the ground, the blood freshly spilled
Cry out from the ground like Cain’s cursed first kill.
Courage! they cried. For Country! and died.
Numbed fingers and toes, starved stomachs grew tight
And still we pressed on, to fight the good fight
My dwindling troop, once foolishly brave
Now lie snuggled together in poorly due graves.
Courage! they cried. For Country! and died.
The question remained, the dark shadow of thought Will we ever return? Will freedom be bought?
Yet the darkest of all, the bringer of fear-
How long will the terror of war linger near?
Courage! they cried. For Country! and died.
It came with a price, this thing we hold close
Of everything else, Peace cost us the most.
Their last solemn gift-thus protect it, we must
Lest the trials of our forefathers crumble to dust.
Courage! they cried. For Country! they died.
I thought it was pretty good. I dont know how many of you actually read the whole way down, but they had her read it on air today, and it was good stuff. I copied and pasted this from a PDF so its not quite as cadenced as it was. either way, still good
Thats all from me, take er easy out there.
Lest we forget
Zach
So each year i do my own thing to remember, and this year I watched the national ceremony. And reflected. They had on these 3 highschool students from across canada, one with an essay, one with a poster, and another with a poem. The poem i thought, summed it up best. For someone in highschool to come up with something that has this kind of meaning (at least to me it all made sense), i was impressed, so I am going to share it with you.
This was written by Andrea Murray from Benalto AB.
Wisps of Memory
Courage! they cried. For Country! and died.
Mud plasters my front, cold wind whips my back
Brace yourselves, lads, its another attack!
We leap from the pits, our guns ready to fire
Bravado drains steadily with the sweat we perspire.
Courage! they cried. For Country! and died.
Feather light touches, a close brush with death
Another bullet sings by with a quickly drawn breath.
My aim ne’er wavered, my death-knell rang true-
But always we wondered whose brother we slew.
Courage! they cried. For Country! and died.
Each new trembling step, each next furtive mile
Death marched among us and flashed her grim smile.
The lumps in the ground, the blood freshly spilled
Cry out from the ground like Cain’s cursed first kill.
Courage! they cried. For Country! and died.
Numbed fingers and toes, starved stomachs grew tight
And still we pressed on, to fight the good fight
My dwindling troop, once foolishly brave
Now lie snuggled together in poorly due graves.
Courage! they cried. For Country! and died.
The question remained, the dark shadow of thought Will we ever return? Will freedom be bought?
Yet the darkest of all, the bringer of fear-
How long will the terror of war linger near?
Courage! they cried. For Country! and died.
It came with a price, this thing we hold close
Of everything else, Peace cost us the most.
Their last solemn gift-thus protect it, we must
Lest the trials of our forefathers crumble to dust.
Courage! they cried. For Country! they died.
I thought it was pretty good. I dont know how many of you actually read the whole way down, but they had her read it on air today, and it was good stuff. I copied and pasted this from a PDF so its not quite as cadenced as it was. either way, still good
Thats all from me, take er easy out there.
Lest we forget
Zach