RemembranceDay

Rethinking Remembrance

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We may find a multitude of ways to remember
Sacrifices made, this day each November
And whether we wear poppy red, poppy white
In the square, in a churchyard, in the soft autumn light
Or at home, or even if we don’t mark it at all
Conflicts, some present, exert still a call
On our minds and our hearts to give pause and reflection
Consider, is there some substantial connection
Between those who struggle, and our more comfortable lives
Far from child soldiers under African skies
Or those in Ukraine, or Iran, where they fight
Against varying tyrannical forms, out of sight…
When part of you hurts, the whole body feels pain
It’s how we should be, when one person is maimed
So let us be conscious, seek out and discern
Where conflict is happening, to direct our concern
And find out the cause – resources, or land –
Which ignited the flame, let it get out of hand
Put ourselves in their shoes, empathise, and yeah, pray
Take some action perhaps – and though it doesn’t go away
We can lift up the hurting, joining hands, joining hearts
And imagine a future – where war finally departs

Image by Annette Jones from Pixabay

For BBC local, and community radio

Earth Remembrance

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I sense a fresh dimension to Remembrance this year
Fallen soldiers, not for them alone we shed a tear
Another source of sadness now engulfs our troubled world
The tendrils of a different grief around our hearts now curl
Remembering former conflicts, honouring those who fell
Let’s listen to that other grief that in our hearts now swells
Conflict, it has meanings that are not confined to war
Bayonets and battles are not all we’re grieving for
A shrill alarm, a clarion call: our conflict with the earth
Novel forms of death to which destructive ways gave birth
This Remembrance Day, let us not solely view the past
Let us weigh a future that is coming at us fast
How better can we honour those who paid such sacrifice
Than dare give up our comfort for the sake of future life
Life encompassing the ones who’ll live here after us
People, creatures and a planet placed within our trust
Climate – it is said the situation’s like a war
A scale and challenge unlike anything we’ve fought before
A safer, greener, fairer earth is surely worth the price
Of careful thought and action now, a personal sacrifice
Echo faint yet resonant of sacrifice once made
By One who dwells within creation, on whom grief was laid
Love of God, a tenderness and breadth of endless scope
Like poppy red, where all seemed dead, now springs afresh with hope

Broadcast on BBC Radio Leeds Sunday Breakfast

Remembrance Pearl of Peace

/ bgulland72 / 2 Comments

In annual deep autumnal gloom, of russet red November,
Many of us stop a while, to pause, reflect, remember,
Huddled groups, dark overcoats with splash of poppy red,
Reassuring ritual, of words said and unsaid.

This year coronavirus lends the day a different hue,
Musings on mortality touched with other sadness too,
So if you can, go the extra mile to reach out and remember
Those who may be struggling and fragile this November.

While crimson poppies are the norm, some wear a poppy white,
A broader deep perspective to keep within our sight,
Puzzled people ask me what a white poppy is for:
To honour every person killed or traumatised by war.  

We mark the memory of the fallen, costly sacrifice
Of those who bravely gave their lives, but also mark the price,
The causes and the roots of conflict, issues broad and deep,
And actively pursue the peace, seek to preserve and keep.

In doing so, we emulate the fragile precious art
Of weaving harmony that lasts, a pearl of God’s own heart,
Like him, let all our yearning for such deep ‘shalom’ not cease,
Until, as oceans cover earth, our world is filled with peace.