Remembrance and Beyond 2009 - Poetry
Last Updated on Monday, 23 November 2009 21:53 Written by Norm Tucker Saturday, 21 November 2009 17:18
We remember on November 11.
Armistice Day, Veteran’s Day, Remembrance Day on 11.11.11,
is a moment for remembering. But what and how do we remember and why? We
remember war and those in uniforms who served and gave their lives.
Yes, we remember but surely we must remember something more than war, something more than the dead, something else – not instead of, but as well.
Someday, we will remember peace. Or will we?
As part of my remembrance this year, I remembered my parents and I wrote poems about the Battle of the Somme, a battle that took place in early WW I in France between July 1 and November 19, 1916, a battle that cost 1,500,000 casualties – deaths, wounded, missing, captured.
The
November 11 remembrance started in
WW I turned out to be a prelude for WW II, in which 73 million died, more than half of them - 49 million – were civilians.
And we still remember, pretty much as we have always done – with poppies - with military ceremony - with emphasis on victory of the good over the bad.
This year, for Canadians, the bad were in
Someday, we will remember peace. Or will we?
Somme 1 –
by Norm Tucker
Wealth: Rhymes with Death.
Today,
We remember
Our wealth
Depended on
Death.
Thus,
We remember:
Buy a poppy,
Wear a poppy.
Where is my poppy?
We remember to move
The poppy
From coat to coat,
We recycle one poppy or two.
The poppy
Inanimate,
Does not remember,
But, for one day, perhaps a week,
It is in fashion.
War, it seems is
Forever in fashion
by Norm Tucker
At
One and one half million
Men – Hommes - died or were wounded,
Why?
At
In four months of infamy,
The blossom of humanity was
Picked off,
Struck down,
Eradicated,
Murdered by other means
Why?
Not for us,
Not for humanity.
Humanity lost
Infamy won at
by Norm Tucker
They must have known – both sides.
Amid their casual morning smoke,
The small chat,
They must have known,
This was the day
To die
For country,
For family,
For freedom,
For values,
For all the great rationalizations,
They must have known
In those early twilight hours
Of eerie silence,
The deafening stillness,
That
This was it,
No time to turn back.
They must have known.
How did they feel in their hearts?
I wonder
Did they worry?
Were they sad?
Were they sorry?
What was in their thoughts?
How did they feel in their hearts?
They must have known
Their war was about to start
And maybe end.
Did they regret?
Did they wish to start all over?
Did they say farewell to loved ones?
What did they feel in their hearts?
Did they make peace with themselves?
They must have known.
by Norm Tucker
July one.
They rose early in the dank twilight,
Mist slowly weaving through their medieval digs.
“Get ready. Today’s the day.”
The word came down the line.
Suddenly
It was time to go.
The adrenaline, the fear, the hope, the despair,
The relief intermingled in complicated
Feelings and reactions knowing
“This was it.”
Just before 7:30 am – a civilized time
Enabling the generals to breakfast at leisure,
The signal came – a series of explosions
That alerted all – including the enemy to the imminent action.
.
The last cigarette, the last inhale, the last puff came.
“Let’s go.”
Along the line of Allied trenches,
Men and boys wearing gas masks, carrying guns with bayonet affixed
Clambered up ladders, over the top into the instant chaos.
Within seconds, the once pastoral peace
Of cultivated French fields were alive with death,
Consumed by the clang and clatter,
The thud and burst of explosions,
The swathe of smoke swirling and churning,
Constant and deafening.
Amid a prevailing dumb and numbing abyss
They charged through No-Man’s Land,
Ahead to the other side,
Dodging or tripping over bodies of comrades
Who in the thousands died or lay injured,
Awash in puddles of blood, moaning and groaning in anguish.
July one lives - in infamy.
by Norm Tucker
By the end of day,
What was the result?
Twenty thousand Allies dead.
Countless more injured, maimed, physically, mentally,
Destroyed, now breathing shells of humanity,
Humanity defamed.
Day one was merely the start,
For another 149 days, the attacks
Continued, the deaths and casualties,
Continued
Tick – tick regimentation like a metronome.
Repeat – repeat.
Over the top – over the top,
“Up you go lad. You’re next.”
Kill - kill.
Repeat – repeat.
By the time the ticking stopped
On November 19
Total casualties from one battle,
Reached one million, five hundred thousand,
Four hundred thousand per mile,
To advance four miles, build new trenches,
Hearts of Oak mindlessly scampered to oblivion
While wooden-leaders with bird-brain values
Inebriated with the rot of Empire
Stood back,
Watched, waited and ignored
The relentless repeat
And the lark descended,
Humanity unraveled,
And the flower of the next generation died.
This was
by Norm Tucker
That reflects the human condition
That we endure through many wars, over many years.
What can we
learn from
What can we
remember from
What do we remember?
We remember the courage and the bravery.
What do we remember?
We remember the futility and the waste.
What do we remember?
We remember the mindless generals and political leaders.
What do we remember?
We remember the propaganda.
What do we remember?
We remember the political and military agenda.
What do we remember?
We remember their agenda was not the human agenda.
What do we remember?
We remember military and political infamy and insanity.
What do we remember?
We remember the profanity of repetition.
What do we remember?
We remember to wear a poppy.
What do we remember?
We remember to
fight in
What do we remember?
We remember the military is for killing not peacekeeping.
(According to the retired Canadian Chief of Staff)
What do we remember?
We remember NOT to say NO.
What do we remember?
We remember to be mindless, to acquiesce, to be passive.
What do we remember?
We remember wars solve problems.
What do we remember?
WW I led to WW II,
WW II led to 73 Million dead including 49 Million civilians.
What do we remember?
War is insanity.
War is policy problem solving
War is made by political and military institutions.
War is murder by other means.
War is destruction and desecration.
What do we need to remember?
War is madness.
We are all accomplices in war.
We can do better.
We can say NO.
That reflects the human condition
That we endure through many wars, over many years.
We remember,
Then we forget.
by Norm Tucker
Yes – I remember and thank
Those who served and suffered,
But is that enough?
If
We remember year after year
In one moment of one day of Remembrance
And 365 days of Forgettance,
Repeatedly, year after year,
The same way,
We will fail to build peace.
By not changing,
Armageddon will happen
And no one will be left
Who will then wear a poppy?
Yes – I remember,
Yes – We remember,
What else is there?
All the Remembrance Days that I can remember have one thing in common: the poem of Canadian, John McRae, In Flanders Fields.
C
Poet, John Masefield: Personal account of the Battle of the Somme.
Epilogue
Photos that show the real horror do not exist. Why? The answer is propaganda. They have been deleted from the public record. If we saw the real photos, we would say NO to war.