Remembrance Day: As the daughter of a much decorated RCAF pilot who served In WWII and the Korean War, and as the granddaughter of an army captain who survived four years overseas during WWI, Im very aware of those conflicts and the sacrifices they entailed. Even though I am a pacifist. Heres a lovely poem my grandmother Elsie wrote during or just after WWI: They Have Not Gone from Us They have not gone from us Though death doth hide the dear familiar bodies But walk with us all time, our soldier dead, What though our eyes but catch the faint impression Of shadows passing by with noiseless tread. The air, which once they breathed as we, Is peopled with their presence The spirit voices whisper far and near, What though the sound be dim as mighty music Which distant, rings the sweeter to the ear! They have not gone from us, But move amongst us strangely Theirs is the solitude of silent hours What though the touch be light as summer breezes Which scarcely stir the petal on the flowers. --- Elsie Kohl Hammond
Posted on: Tue, 11 Nov 2014 23:48:59 +0000