Remembrance Day is a memorial day to remember the members of the armed forces who have died in the line of duty since World War I.
This day is observed on 11 November to recall the official end of World War I on that date in 1918; hostilities are said to have ended at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918.
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This year it was Mr.Keith, Hamida, me, Wareda, Mr.Bolam and Yasmina
(who had to sit down cause she felt a little dizzy) |
I read the poem MCMXIV (1914) by Philip Larkin
Those long uneven lines,
standing as patiently as if
they were stretched outside
the Oval or Villa Park.
the crowns of hats, the sun
on mustached archaic faces,
grinning as if were all
an August Bank Holiday Lark.
And the shut shops, the bleached
established names on the sunblinds.
The farthings and sovereigns,
and the dark clothes children at play
called after kings and queens.
the tin advertisements for cocoa and twist;
and the pubs wide open all day.
And the country side not caring,
the place names all hazed over
with flowering grasses, and fields
shadowing doomsday lines
under wheat's restless silence.
The differently dressed servants,
with small rooms in huge houses;
the dust behind limousines.
Never such innocence.
Never before or since,
as changed itself to past
without a word, the men
leaving the gardens tidy.
The thousands of marriages
lasting a little while longer;
never such innocence again.
Wareda read the poem Do Not Stand At My Grave and Weep by Mary E. Frye.
Do not stand at my grave and weep
I am not there; I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow,
I am the diamond glints on snow,
I am the sun on ripened grain,
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you awaken in the morning's hush
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circled flight.
I am the soft stars that shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry,
I am not there; I did not die.
Hamida and Yasmina laid the Poppy wreath
The weather was real warm, and wearing black didn't help at all!
