The Bagpipes Played Poem by Randy McClave

We bowed our heads at the burial site
Then unto God we all wept and prayed,
We said our goodbyes both day and night
Then the bagpipes, they just played.
The piper piped his tune for the dead,
A better eulogy could not have been read.

We stood and we cheered at our soldiers patriotically
As they all marched one by one in the parade,
We watched them all as the spiritual and the holy
Then the bagpipes, they just played.
Tunes were played for the peace keepers,
And we the watchers became the weepers.

We began a new life together me and my mate
From each other we swore that we would not be swayed,
She became my wife without much of a debate
Then the bagpipes, they just played.
The piper then piped his tune with our prayer,
Our pact and our tune was now forever in the air.

We walked the Royal Mile in Edinburgh
As though we were on our own musically crusade,
The bagpiper there was proud and thorough
I gave him a pound, his bagpipes then played.
I then thought of the jealousy of the moon,
As it cannot see the bagpiper playing his tune.

Randy L. McClave