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THE MENIN GATE - 11/11/2013

They stood beneath the Menin Gate

All gathered to commemorate

The engraved names and all their ghosts

Countless lines of long-gone hosts.

 

The sacks of sacrificial soil

Collected by young children's toil

Were held out to be carried home

To where the dead could never roam.

 

Carefully placed upon the bier

A gun carriage offered waiting near,

Its horses quiet as if t'were known

They had dead forebears of their own.

 

And when at last that holy train

Set out to journey back again

It seemed that countless voices cried

"We're going home across the tide".

 

Horseshoes rang on Belgian stone

Recalling those - known and unknown;

Men and horses gone before,

Remembered comrades, lost to war.

...................................................................

 

 

 

◄ FOR THE FALLEN - AND THE FALLEN FROM GRACE

THE DAY THEY MURDERED JFK ►

Comments

C Byrne

Mon 6th Jan 2014 16:11

"all their ghosts"...

a subtle yet powerful poem about a story that hasn't finished and is alive as ever. thanks for sharing!

r.e. ypres. did you ever see the chris moyles episode of "who do you think you are?". well worth a watch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9cW5DSpHUo .

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David Cooke

Tue 19th Nov 2013 17:33

Hi MC I'm glad Annus Mirabilis struck a chord. I've just enjoyed your poem on the Menin Gate.

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Starfish

Thu 14th Nov 2013 17:20

A poignant tribute to the fallen.

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