Memorial

 

The peace and freedoms we enjoy come to us at great cost,

Paid by precious few who did not shirk when lives were lost.

But the sacrifice wasn’t solely given by those who went and fought,

But also by those left behind, who by the heart were caught.

Now Bernard was my Dad’s best friend, the brains behind the pranks,

That boy that other boys all love, but parents don’t give thanks,

An independent sort of boy; his father didn’t ‘get’,

They quarreled over something and the boy left home upset,

Though just 16, he went to the recruitment place downtown,

Put two years upon his age, swore not to let them down,

His dad, when he discovered it, went to bring him home,

The boy was underage, he’d tell him, ‘Never will you roam!’

But on the way, he thought about the wild boy, his young son.

And that the army surely’d do what Dad could not get done,

And so he turned around and left his boy there at the camp,

Thinking army life would make a man out of his scamp.

Bernard went through basic; he was in his element,

Mixed well with the men and did the work that he was sent,

Finally, Dad’s friend was shipped right to the battlefront,

Prepared to face the enemy with all the other ‘grunts’,

Lacking heed, he charged in like he’d always done so far,

But this was not the schoolyard, no. This was different: WAR!

Bernard had served for just three days when he paid the final price,

Dying in a soggy field of vegetables and rice.

His father never did recover, mourned from that day on,

Thinking, if he’d just gone on, he could have saved his son,

He blamed himself for failing to retrieve his teenage boy,

The tragedy went both ways, ever robbing all of joy.

On this Memorial Day, let’s honour all who blow the horn,

But let us not forget their loved ones, who forever mourn.

Photo Credit: Karen of bakinginatornado.com

Cause Mondays do get knocked a lot,
With poetry, we all besought
To try to make the week begin
With gentle thoughts,
Perhaps a grin?
So Karen, Charlotte, Mimi, me
Have crafted poems for you to see.
And now you’ve read what we have wrought…
Did we help?
Or did we not?

I hope this week quite soon will end,

Cause next week's all about Best Friends!

Thinking of joining us for Poetry Monday?

We'd love to welcome you!
Topics for the next few weeks...

Memorial Day (May 31) Today!

Best Friends Day (from June 8) (June 7)

Monkey Around Day (June 14)

Fathers (June 21)

Bubbles (June 28)

Bikinis (July 5)

Cheer the Lonely (July 12)

Raspberry Cake Day (July 19)

Parents Day (July 26)