Thursday, November 10, 2011

Let Us Remember

Cenotaph at Malagash, Nova Scotia

The Keeper
by Marilyn Bragg

The old man stands there wizened and bent
And watchs through tears as they play the lament.
I am the keeper, he says in his mind.
I am the one he left behind.

I am the keeper of memories
When others seem to forget.
I am the one who remembers
As though he were living yet.

I see his face and remember his jokes.
I see the tears as he spoke of the folks.
I see the fear in a best pal's eye.
I hear him hide in the dark and cry.

I see him die in the blood and the gore.
I see him fall to fight no more.
I stand at his grave in the cold smoky air.
And promise I'd always be there.

We were merely boys back then
And ready for a laugh.
Now I'm keeper who stands alone
And weeps at the Cenotaph.

Lest we forget.





This poem is dedicated to the Keepers in my family, Pvt. Vernon Treen, P/O John Edwin Bragg, Red Cross Nurse Florence Laughlin Bragg, Pvt. Leonard Treen, Pvt. Leo Dowd, Sgt. Joe Harrigan and S/L Rusty Bragg.



And to family members who paid the ultimate price in war:  Sgt. Beldon Treen - killed at Vimy Ridge; Lance Corporal Burton Treen - gassed at Hill 70; Pvt. Stanley Treen - killed at Amiens; and P/O Douglas W. Peers - killed in action over Germany 1944. F/O Donald Nelson, killed in Korea,  Second Lieutenant Samuel Tilley Harrison - killed in action September 29, 1918 in France.