I was at a Rememberance Sunday service when children started to play and laugh during the two minute silence and the sounding of the last post. It struck home as a metaphor for the way younger generations don't listen to their elders, mistakes are repeated, and avoidable wars are started.

Copyright © Colin Tommis 12.11.2006

Two minutes silence,
Were shattered by a cry,
Not from soldier but a child,
Who couldn't see the “why”,
Who didn't catch the purpose,
Of a bugler’s funeral call,
Listening, no listening,
Hearing, no-one to hear the soldier’s wasted fall.

If guns were spiked by laughter,
If children pulled the strings,
A happy ever after world,
Where doves unfold their wings,
But no such thing as silence,
When bullets start to fly,
And two minutes is a lifetime,
For young and old alike.
Listening, no listening,
Hearing, no-one to see the soldier’s wasted fall.

© Colin Tommis 12.11.2006