REMEMBRANCE DAY

“There was never a good war or a bad peace.” - Benjamin Franklin
 
Remembrance Day here is commemorated on November 11 each year in Australia. This is because the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month marks the signing of the Armistice, on 11th November 1918, which signalled the end of World War One. At 11 a.m. on 11th November 1918, the guns of the Western Front fell silent after more than four years of continuous warfare. Initially, when WWI ended, the day was known as Armistice Day but was renamed Remembrance Day after WWII. In the USA the day is known as Veterans’ Day.
 
Each year Australians observe one minute’s silence at 11 a.m. on 11th November, in memory of all those men and women who have died or suffered in all wars, conflicts and peace operations. This is a simple yet very effective way of remembering the massive loss of life and immense suffering that humankind has been subjected to in all of the various armed conflicts that have blotted recorded history.
 
Magpie Tales this week has provided a prompt (Verdun, 1917 by Felix Vallotton) in harmony with this day of Remembrance. Here is my contribution.
 
The Rabbit, III
 
Run, run, run
Rabbit run!
The gun spits out death.
A flash, a bang, an echo
And the pungent smell
Of gunpowder...
 
Bang, bang, bang
All stops in mid-jump. 
One, two, three
And inside me
My noontime meal
Turns to poison.
 
Kill, kill, kill
Blood, death, terror
In the falling evening.
Life is death
Love is life
Death is love.
 
Eyes, eyes, eyes
Hard eyes, soft eyes.
Love is hard, sharp, jagged glass
Death is soft, yielding velvet
Life is soft, hard, sharp,
Smooth, tender but unbending.
Life is death
Hard, sharp like broken glass
Soft, smooth like velvet.