A D-Day Offering

Though I know words can't adequately express everything that could be said about D-Day and the rest of the war, I nevertheless put pen to paper once again and tried to translate some of my own feelings into a small piece of poetry. Here it is:

Ode to Juno's Unknown

I journey through the channels night,
I've had no rest, and there's none in sight.
I instead see dawn reveal the coast,
With it, the waiting enemy host.
Fire echoes in the sky,
Then the first men fall, and lie.

Bombs rain down just as we land,
And mines throw up their gouts of sand.
I clutch my gun as I do my life,
I wish instead I could hold my wife.
But I'm climbing over the walls of hate,
Bravely climbing toward my fate...

The sand his fated blood would stain,
For all to see, the world's pain.
A bruise there lay, upon the land,
In a pool of blood, by a lifeless hand.
But time, it seems, is memory's bleach,
For the water has since washed it clean;
It's washed the sand of Juno Beach.

How can we, this debt we owe, repay,
For vested valour; deeds done that day.
Honour spent, honour gained,
Upon his dead heart those memories stained.
To us, his charge we undertake,
For the past, for the future's sake,
We remember and evermore shall teach.
For the water has washed it clean,
It's washed the sand of Juno Beach.


Ok, feel free to post any thoughts. I'd also like to send out props to James, who spent hours editing this piece with me, and will no doubt continue to work on editing it ;) (I added two lines at the last minute before posting).

Peace folks