Remembrance day poem

Sammo

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In Flanders field so far away
a soldier bowed his head to pray,
a moment spent with god on high
to ask if now he has to die
For Tommy Smith knew much of war
the death the blood the pain the gore.
He’d seen it all, most at first hand
and now he lay in nomansland.
A lonely figure so forlorn
he knew he`d never see the dawn…


On Dunkirk beach and out to sea,
the lines of men wait patiently.
with outstretched hands and full of hope…
Until a stray shell hits the boat.
They carry Tommy to the beach,
the `little ship` now out of reach,
and soon he knows that things aren`t right
as his day slowly turns to night..
A lonely figure so forlorn
he knew he`d never see the dawn…


The North Atlantic late July,
where wolf packs stalk and brave men die.
In mid ocean you can’t be saved
so sailors meet a watery grave.
They cling to wreckage in the night
with convoy gone or out of sight,
how soon will Tommy start to sleep
and slip away into the deep
A lonely figure so forlorn
he knew he`d never see the dawn…


Above the clouds where airmen fight
The bomber droned on through the night
And in the tail the gunner dozed
He`d soon be home, or he supposed ….
The fighter only made one pass
It`s cannon shattered flesh and glass
Now Tommy couldn`t move or shout
the taste of blood was in his mouth
A lonely figure so forlorn
he knew he`d never see the dawn…


The garrison at Singapore
all taken prisoners of war
and put to work in jungles deep
with insects, filth, disease and heat.
Starving, Tommy knew the score
that he was knocking on death`s door
so in the night he crawled away,
that friends might see another day.
A lonely figure so forlorn
he knew he`d never see the dawn…


Sir Galahad was nomansland
full of troops, waiting to land
Then as the bomb struck deep inside
so many had nowhere to hide,
burning decks with no way out
no matter that they scream and shout….
Trapped, Tommy knows that he`s not dead
then see`s he`s lost an arm and leg
A lonely figure so forlorn
he knew he`d never see the dawn…


A checkpoint in Afghanistan
when Tommy bent to see the man,
a loud explosion rent the air
and suddenly the cars not there.
Now Tommy`s lying on the ground
with dead and dying all around,
and as his sight begins to sway,
he hears a siren, far away.
A lonely figure so forlorn
he knew he`d never see the dawn…


The transport from Iraq unloads
It`s coffins neatly row on row,
down on the tarmac in the cold
wait Tommys family young and old,
while further back and out of sight
a young girl cries with all her might,
just a teen, she loved him so,
and pleaded with him not to go.
A lonely figure so forlorn
who knows her dad won`t see the dawn…

…………


In poppy fields so far from home,
a soldier wrote a final poem,
and asked to be remembered should
he not return from Flanders mud,
and could a day be put aside,
to honour men who fought and died.
So now each year we kneel and pray
for comrades on remembrance day…
who died so lonely and forlorn
that we might see a better dawn.






UA 2008
 
Superb.

My children all know about the significance of the 11th hour of the 11th month despite never having had friends or relatives who did not return. My youngest (6 1/2) said "Thank you" to a veteran collecting for the Poppy Appeal at the weekend, and gave him a hug which was very touching.
 
Watching the rugby on Saturday John Inverdale mentioned that his daughter had just been on a school trip to Ypres and the Somme and came back profoundly moved by the experience.
I think Uncle Albert's poem needs a wider audience and deserves to be in the Lounge.
 
Yes Ian, I thought of the lounge but I didn`t want it to be restricted to members only…..also on here it won`t disappear amid a torrent of new posts and perhaps will still be around on the 11th .


....
 
Just after buying lazy Days I was in a thames lock (name ?) when three generations of a family came along and watched the lock work. The grandfather aws pointing out Lazy Days to his grandkids and as we motored out he stood to attention and saluted. We moored just outside the lock with the keepers permission and I ran back to the family and introduced myself and invited them onboard for a cuppa. We left granddad to go below and explain to the kids what the Dinkirk Little ships were all about, the onboard liberary helped with this.

This summer I was suprised just how many youngsters knew about the boats and how many familys stopped and read the information board I display.

Why do I keep Lazy Days, because I can. Without her and the other Little Ships maybe I wouldn't be allowed to????????
 
Think yourself lucky that the PC people haven't forced you to remove all references to Dunkirk for fear of offending Germans.
Didn't they force the change of the sign at Teddington that shows the spot where Dunkirkers gathered?
 
one of our boats is owned by a German.

There's a cartoon in one of The ADLS mags of a german submarine attending a dunkirk return, the caption reads "well he says he was there too"
 
If there was a heaven, what would these lost men say
as they look down upon our land today
perhaps they would feel pride in what they saw
but likely they'd think, what the [--word removed--] did I die for?

For freedom and peace they were sent to attack
but it wasn't to be lasting, remember Iraq?
So it's an unfortunate shame we remember these men
while we keep sending more, and yet more again.

Yet there's still no peace, so their work was undone
because what's the difference between jihad and achtung?
 
Please feel free to post it elsewhere ...the more people who see it the better ...especially youngsters who may not understand what the poppy represents....

...
 
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