Another poem

Decided to put another poem on.  I write my poetry when I am in a very reflective mood or lost in deep thought.  I will tell you how this one came about.  As you will have gathered I have spent years working on my Family tree.  It was much more difficult than I expected because it turned out that so many of the men in my family were military serving many years in the Army and stationed for long periods in numerous places abroad.  Well, one day, I was up at the cemetery visiting the grave of my parents.  I sat on the bench in this quiet, beautiful place reflecting on things and it struck me how regimental the graves were and how military they seemed.  I took a piece of paper out of my bag and in ten minutes I had written this poem which has been published.

DEAD MARCH

In regimental ranks the dead now lie

Silent, at coffined  "Attention"

Their faces to the sky.

And none "fall out" and none "desert"

Their grim eternal posts

And for the Sentry Duty

There can be only ghosts.

And now and then a new recruit

"Falls In" to join the line,

A little mound of fresh dug clay

Provides the only sign

Another soul has signed their hand

Upon Death's dotted line.

No medals these, no cheering crowds,

No bright parades, no bugle sounds -

Now "Discharge" now, no going home

Just uniformed in Essex loam.

Now "At Ease" beneath the ground

They evermore must be

The only march left to perform -

Into eternity.