Dead Soldiers On ANZAC Day

[Morning Star]

Today I went to visit
My brothers and sister
I hadn't seen them for so long

We travelled down Main St
In and out of traffic
Red lights and green
Until we arrived in their block

As usual
Though I'm not sure why
We visited my sister first
On Tenth Avenue
The roses in her garden
Still amaze
Even on this autumn day in April
We stood still and silent
For a moment
As if it was our duty

I read the golden words
On her grey stone
And wondered about the Hebrew scrawl
The Menorah up top
My name near the earth

Mum arranged
A bouquet of flowers
And spoke gently
To her dead child

Brown cracked leaves
Dotted the lines of stone
As if in commiseration
To prove a point

It was cold
We turned to the car

Next stop, my brother
He was only around the corner
In a place he's called peace
For nineteen years
A relief
After twenty-two in hell

Colourful plastic flowers
Shot up out of his plaque
It was easy to find
I fetched water
For Mum's assortment of real ones

She kneeled again
And spoke more comforting words
I'm glad today
She didn't cry

He lies in a line
With forty unknowns
A tree is a while away
The angel on his plaque is chipped
I light a smoke
And look to the road
A bird chirps
As if it's G-d
And I hate the song
I spit

Up the road we pass the chapel
My youngest brother was cremated there
His orders
It reminded me of Shoah
Was okay though
I read a poem
Seventy souls bared witness
And the only fucking angry thing I say is
"The futility of the rich"
Four years pass and still I'm pissed

Back on Main St
A Mercedes cruises by
Mum blows her nose
I turn on the radio
Light another smoke