November’s Game
When we were children.
We played November’s Game -
Threading Conkers on a string
Fighting battles
Following rules
No retreat!
Take the pain -
‘Big boys don’t cry’.
When we were children.
Some played the game
Seeking ways to bend the rules -
Learning lessons.
How Hardened-Shells would show no marks.
That Naïve Armour withstood the knocks -
The Falling from the Chestnut Tree.
The Eleventh Hour
Of the Eleventh day
We Remembered them.
The Fallen -
The Manufactured Shells.
How their Altered-Hardness made a Brittle World
Broke the bodies - laid-waste the ground.
While softer-skins of nature’s form withstood the shock - The Falling -
And seeds were sown from Chestnut Trees.
So we, their children
could play November’s Game -
By threading Conkers on a string.
Major J.Johnston. Canadian 13th Highland Battalion Royal Highlanders of Canada (Canadian Blackwatch).
Not quite November - but in New Zealand we are approaching ANZAC Day. 25 April. The bands are practising.