Lest We Forget

I don't know you, for you I do not seek,
Yet to you, the unknown, I owe my life,
My liberty, freedom to write and speak.
You died far back in times of war and strife,
It's many years ago since your sun set,
I write these words for all, lest we forget.

Millions of lives that cruelly ended,
Swiftly sank in a sea of trodden mud,
Among comrades recently befriended,
As only war can do, it drained your blood.
It's many years ago since your sun set,
I write these words for all, lest we forget.

Sacrifice not marked by glorious band,
As lives were given, that in turn did give
A chance for me to grow and understand
The price that strangers paid that I might live.
It's many years ago since your sun set,
I write these words for all, lest we forget.

Poppies raging red in a foreign field,
Colour vibrant, reminds us of the blood
Shed by valliant hearts, as their fate sealed
Joined the fallen, death surging like a flood.
It's many years ago since your sun set,
I write these words for all, lest we forget.

I stand silent, give thanks to all of you,
The debt I owe I never can repay,
Today you shadow everything I do,
You are in my mind on this poignant day.
It's many years ago since your sun set,
I write these words to all, lest we forget.


Written as a tribute to all those who died in the First World War 1914 -1918