Lest We Forget
‘Lest we forget’ the pious legend runs
Around the cenotaph, fallen leaves swept
Away for the marking of that unkept
Promise, the final silencing of guns,
Rumbling ever since. Led by royalty
Decked out in their martial pomposity,
While conflicts with all gross ferocity
Make a deadly mockery of loyalty,
The gathered all silently bow their heads
And whisper to themselves, ‘Never no more!’
But such sentiment does not prevent war:
Indeed the living thus betray the dead.
There’s no peace, not even an armistice
While capitals continue to claim their price.
D. A.