War And Remembrance - The Clock Poem by Paul Warren

On a breezy afternoon I walked at Semaphore
As the gulls were wheeling and forever squawking near the beach's shore
And I walked up to the white stone clock there to see the time
Standing tall clearly displayed as it slowly moved around in its electric wind

It was erected there on the spot in 1924
To remember the loved ones lost in the Great War
And now it stands as a sentinel looking out to sea
Giving the time as its service to us all so faithfully

I read the foundation stones laid in each corner
Each telling their story for the local mourners
What did they think as each was stone was laid there
Was a tear shed for those lost for each in their loving care

I saw there was a stone laid by the local mayor
Showing what the Community had lost and that they did care
They had sent them off to fight in the Great War
And waited at home wanting it to end wondering at the final score

The local RSL laid their stone for the war's survivors
Who saw the blood spilled and knew the loss was so much finer
They gathered in remembering their lost mates
Thinking of their sacrifice and wondering at the fates

The saddest stone was laid by their widows and orphans
Who struggled with their loss that had no final end
For they suffered each hour of every day
As their grief was palatable never ever going away

So we who look at the stones today standing so true
Laid so many years ago when the grief was very new
Stand straight for a moment and think of all of them
Lost for us in war and remember what it meant in the end.

© Paul Warren Poetry