What Is Remembrance? Poem by Daniele Cerasoli

What is Remembrance?
Is it the length of our memory
Or the persistence of time?
It is neither
For it is not remembering at all.
It is paying tribute
To the many brave men
That we did not know.
It is giving respect
To all those who fought
In places that we have never been.
It is all those hours
That those men gave, fighting,
And us giving just one day
In their honour.
It is wearing a poppy
Because you want to
And not because
It makes you look like you care.
It is not being quiet for one minute
Just because you were told to.
It is giving your heart,
Not for a moment, a day, or a year,
But for every second of every day
To anyone involved in any war,
Whether it be a soldier, a doctor, or a nurse,
And keeping them in your heart.
Remembrance is not trying to remember
Or giving your teacher forced cooperation
It is thinking of all those who died
And giving them tribute
In our own little way.