lest we forget

Today I was thinking...
I know - scary -
but I was given a solid minute,
a minute to remember
to ponder
to think...
For some who have little to think on, this minute stretches to eternity...
And yet for those who have history drenched with memories, faces, battlefields -
that minute hardly does justice to each thread of thought.


And as I looked around at the swarm of poppy pinned people:
the young
the old
the veteran
the standing
the wheel chaired
the strollered...
I saw the dwindling generation, steeped with sacrifice
feebly holding out their history
for the thankful
the curious.
I saw parents teaching their children of legacy
and respect
while the background was a buzz with those who cared little
and remembered nothing.
I saw the next generation standing at attention,
without the experience of the sacrifice they were standing at attention for.
I saw the indifferent keep walking,
talking,
too busy for one silent moment
or an anthem of freedom.

And I wondered
at how we remember.
What we remember.
Do we remember?
Do we understand the gift that we've been given?
Will we be able to pass along the stories to the next generation
when the frail are silenced by the grave they eluded so many ears ago,
and their names fade from memory?
Do we care?


Because today we honour...
today we show respect...
Tomorrow we'll curse them for driving slow on the highway.
We'll roll our eyes as they take their time fumbling to get exact change from their wallets in the express lane.
We'll sigh dramatically when they begin to tell us that story for a hundredth time...
but today - today we'll remember.
We'll remember what they gave us.
We'll remember respect.
We'll remember where we've come from.
We will remember...if only for one minute.