This is my tribute and thank you to some very brave people. The words were inspired by countless brave souls but especially by Uncle Nat Wiseman and Uncle Gus Pippy who both served in WWII. (Pictured Below) We will never truly know the full price men and women like them paid but we should always remember the rewards they bestowed upon us.
The squeak of floorboards under the old rocking chair.
The sound of a burden that’s been carried for years.
A rhythm being kept by an old man in step
with the beat of the chant of the march in his head.
A toddler is reaching for the arms that are there,
looking for comfort from the source of his tears.
Such was the fate of the man in the chair,
to lift up the weak and sooth all their fears.
A semi rolls down the highway next door
but his ears do not hear, they’ve been numbed by the war.
On a grey day in June he had waded ashore
and never returned to himself anymore.
A heart taught to love must now learn to kill.
A mind trained to retain must try to erase.
Such was the fate of the man standing tall,
to drop all his passions and answer the call.
A puff of smoke rises as a pipe’s being lit,
intermixing with air like the time in his head.
He’s back in a village amongst rubble and flames,
and he sees all the faces but he doesn’t know names.
A fire’s not out until the embers are dead,
cause a change in the wind can fan them again.
Such was the fate of the man being chased,
the boundaries of time have all been erased.
A fiddle is playing but a sadness pervades.
Notes that once jigged are now waltzing instead.
The onlookers clap for the passion conveyed
but they don’t know the source of his passion is pain.
The surge of the tide can hide all debris,
but nothing is gone, it just lies beneath.
Such was the fate of the man standing down,
to wonder why he is the one above ground.
A man can walk down
the same road every day
Nothing seems changed
Nothing’s out of the way
But its not where you’re going
but where you have been
That muddies the lens
with what you have seen.
The toddler is grown and he sits in the chair.
He laments on the strength of the man that was there.
He’s never known hunger or trembled in fear,
never dreaded the sound of boots on his stairs.
A picture’s being taken of a child on his knee
and he prays that her fate is to always be free.
Such was my fate as I maintained my stance,
indebted to so many who marched to the chants.
© Barry King 2018. Thanks for reading. Feel free to share a link to this page if you think others might like it.
Augustus Pippy (Uncle Gus). Born Dec 5th, 1922. A member of the Royal Navy during World War II.
Nathan Wiseman (Uncle Nat) Born March 4th, 1920. A member of the Royal Navy during World War II.
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