Remembrance Day

Remembrance Day

Guns tore the air,

yet they crawled on,

souls bruised by thunder,

faces set like stone.

Mud clutched their boots,

cold bit their breath,

still they rose again,

staring straight at death.

Night dragged its claws,

shells split the sky,

men whispered home,

not ready to die.

Blood marked the earth,

hope thinned to thread,

still they held the line,

side by side with the dead.

Silence came late,

carrying its grief,

the war still walked,

never finding relief.

A poppy falls down,

laid with a vow,

to tell their tale,

and honour them now.

Smoke haunts the past,

drifting in dreams,

calling their names,

in low, steady streams.

We stand in their wake,

hearts pressed with pride,

knowing their fire

still burns inside.