Lay Me Doone - A Farewell to the Brave

PW - In Respect of our Military Families, Our Fallen, and Wounded on Remembrance Day

For what we take for granted

So many have died for

So many lives so vastly changed

At the dreadful cost of war

There is the good; there is the bad

A liberated nation cheers

Left in dread for those young souls lost

Devastated a world back home

Efforts to protect a peace

That no one thought was near

Laying lives upon the line

Visions at times so unclear

Lives touched by fear or lived in dread

Of wounded coming home

Of crosses lined in many rows

From a trip down a heroes road

I have been sitting on the bank

Of a river flowing by

Flowing heavy with the flood of tears

From their family’s eyes

For on this day of remembrance

Their thoughts, their dreams, their prayers

Are focused on a loved one lost

Leaving them in such despair

My heart it wants to reach out

Let them know I can’t forget

The gift they’ve laid for their fellow man

Tis the greatest gift to give

So humbled in a moment’s thought

So treasured was the step

That they took forth at their country’s call

Let it never be forgot

We measure freedom lightly now

For we’ve grown so familiar with

But if not for those who took this step

And gave this precious gift

Would we take it so very lightly

Would we have the chance to vent

About all that annoys and bothers us

Without retribution for what we’ve said

So thankful they stood so proudly for

All that we hold so dear

All that makes us Canada

For me it’s oh so clear

For some others they just don’t get it

They think so little of

What has been placed in front of them

At the cost of someone’s love

If I could send forth a message

Place it in a bottle, float it by

I’d provide a note of how much I care

For those whose tears are flowing by

If I could walk along this shore

Such a warming hug I’d give

To those who’ve lost a loved one

So we can live the way we live

By Roger Borchert

PW - A Soldier Goes Home Today

PWIn memory of our latest fallen soldier.

A Canadian soldier goes home today

His duty all but done

His friends gather round to see him off

And salute him one by one

To keep the peace he's done his best

And kept the foe at bay

And gave the children in a foreign land

A chance to run and play

They may never know this soldier's name

Nor the sacrifice he made

To leave his own fond loved ones
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At home they wish he stayed

But the work of keeping a fragile peaceIs a long and arduous one

Most times accomplished with an open hand

But sometimes with a gun

He is not the first to go this way

But we pray he is the last

With a few shed tears we say goodbye

And then from sight he's passed

Yes, a Canadian soldier goes home today

Draped in our National Flag

His duty for his country is done

Rest well my fallen comrade

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by Roland MacKinnon