Remembrance Day

Struggling to make headway writing anything other than indecipherable scribble in my journal on the bus trip to Hobart yesterday due to the constant bumping and thumping, I decided to have a break and take in the scenery instead. It was a rather opportune moment, as the bus had just pulled off the highway to let a passenger off in Ross. Not until we headed off again did I realise what the time was, so on this day when the faithful had taken time out to remember those who had left this little country town and not returned, I couldn’t let the moment pass.

Remembrance Day

No minute’s silence

as the bus passes

the handful gathered

with bowed heads

at the cenotaph

in the heart of town.

No respect

for those long dead.

No time

to spare a thought.

No pause

in the race from

here to there.

Disregarding

all but the schedule.

The passenger

had walked the aisle

at two minutes to eleven,

stepped off

and just as quickly

the bus sucked in its door,

cocooning us

at one minute to,

pulled away from the kerb

and dared to disturb

the reverence

as it brushed past the diggers

with medalled chests

right on eleven.

No minute’s silence

No respect

for those long dead

No pause

in the race

from here to there.