Ghosts from the Hand and the Rose
Fly ‘cross the passing years to mind me
Whispered mantra that calls:
This is why you are, and where you are from
All those lives I remember
Please remember
Milestones and millstones galore
Life-changing happenings that mould us
Share both suffering and joy
The consanguinity that binds us
All these things I remember
Please remember
Sutton-On-Seaside with a dad I never really got to know
We’d catch the early morning train waves
as they broke on the sea wall steps below
Or driving round the mourning mountains in the orange Bug and in the rain
Those Ulster summer days with the Blood, with the Saved, but against the grain
Here’s my great uncle’s sepia photo – he’s in his army best
And The Commonwealth Grave in northern France where his short life came to rest
Or seeing the dark in my brother’s eyes – the end wasn’t long after
A lifetime beating the odds but now silence…and forgotten laughter
All those things to remember
All these lives in remembrance
All these things I remember
Oh, please remember
Aye
We’re scared of living
We’re proud of living
We’re dying to live it
We died to live it
We died – you’re living
We’ve died – you’re loving
Please remember.
When I die, re-live it.
