Where once they fell
‘neath a bloodshot sky
To the screech of shells
That shredded lives
Flowers now suck from decaying bones
In soil rich with fallen memories
No rifles or bayonets, just dirt and stones
In land steeped with gorious deeds
Felled where stood, they rise to nature’s beat
Folded in ground now offering release
Flowers grace land where once they breached
And stalks stretch to skies that arms never reached
Gentle the land that took them with pity
Regenerating bones on sunlit days
Where butterflies kiss sunflowers with seraphic gaiety
Whose surrogate arms touch the light summer’s haze
The day now yawns and turns its head
To the past, the present and a hopeful tomorrow
With softer skies and memories to bed
Let these halcyon lands never lie fallow
From our minds
Remember.