Moving On Poem by keith brown

Moving on
If you drive the old Mclay valley highway
Out past old Freddo pies
There's a little garden of remeberance
Dedicated to 35 lives

I thought I'd call there this morning
For 5 minutes to show my respects
But
To my surprise and disappointment
the gardens show signs of neglect

In the lawn, if you'd call it that
There's a lone tree , with a bench set for repose
Seems such a waste in a garden
Where seldom a person goes

I read all the dedications
Too the mothers, fathers daughters or son

But a voice at the back of my head said

People just have to move on

The monuments still standing
between 2 bare, rusting flag poles
A testament
Along with the weeds and the long grass
In garden where nobody goes

It seems that we have forgotten
What we all lost that dark summer morn
A doctor, a lawyer, a poet
A singer of country song

But the voice in my head kept on saying

People just have to move on

After 40 years or more we remember
Granville
And the day the bridge came down
Gallipoli, the Anzacs and the boys from Vietnam
But it seems that we've forgotten
The lose of those 35 lives
Out on the Mcclay highway
Where the coaches now no longer drive

To me and maybe to others
The neglect just seems so wrong

But I guess it's understanble
Cause
People just have to move on.
Ka, B