|
Brian
by Don
(Note
- Brian was a boyhood mate who died aged 18 in the long forgooten
Korean War)
It seems
like five hundred years ago
and I was a lad in my ways
when the summer lasted for ever
in a procession of cloudless days
- then Brian died
He died
in a place where nobody knew
with a name that we never had heard
in a place the other side of the earth
in a war that the politicians incurred
- and the sun shone
At first
in the village there were five of us
with no thought to go further away
though one had been right up to London
with his folks on a short holiday
- then there were four
We called
on his mam and knocked at her door
and shuffled with our eyes turned away
she stood at the door as we mumbled all red
Then closing, we heard her just say
- why not you ?
When
the day came we, too, went and joined
But by then that war was ended
And no clouds dotted our endless blue sky
and we all lived our lives as intended
- and she lived alone
It seems
like five hundred years ago
and people no longer remember
that war where all those men died
I try very hard but can only recall
- that the sun shone
Don
|
