Requiem

Fallen leaves

Fallen soldiers

The fall of the year

All Souls Day

At cemeteries

Old folk shed a tear

 

But my father would never go there

He had lived with death too long

He sat outside on a wooden bench

Cigarette smoking strong

 

We family went inside to see

The graves of those now dead

Flowers to lay and prayers to say

At this their final bed

 

But my father’s stout refusal

Stays with me to this day

There’s time enough for cemeteries

Till then I’d rather play

 

For a man so strong in many ways

I couldn’t understand the stance

But when I learned what he had seen

I agree – no backward glance

 

Live the day and live it well

Place your hope in God

And show the world what you believe

In kindness truth and love

 

Brian Fahy

2 November 2022