REMEMBRANCE
We pay a price for freedom
There’s a cost to being free
Not monetary, as in notes and coins
But in human tragedy.
Lost sons and lost fathers
Yet more countless wasted lives
Premature widows from around the
globe
Who were once young soldiers’ wives.
These the obvious battle-scarred
To whom we pay respect
We salute those who have lost so much
Give a time to pause reflect.
For what we take for granted
Free speech and democracy
Was campaigned for over many wars
A high-cost strategy.
Dictators were removed from grace
Oppression met resistance
The world was made a better place
Although the battlefield has persistence
I often think of those who fell
Paid the ultimate sacrifice
They brought us from the brink of hell
To preserve our paradise
Not just the preserve of November
Our annual one-minute pause
We always should remember
Those who fought this noble cause.
CR Lee, Chilton

SENT
Letterboxes sigh with voices, cry with
disuse – missing the steps, the
envelopes,
Enveloped feeling
The scented paper, the stamps, the
hand delivered notes,
from blokes wrapped up in deep
feeling,
As sanitised emotionless digits type
messages out for computer screens,
emotionless.
As the draughts of letterboxes sigh.
Drifting, feelings, lap thoughts,
Remember what has been, last year,
last Valentine, last feeling chipped,
Exploring another time, polished, dust,
the scent of wine, of feeling,
Reflections, petals and emotion
embrace.
Alison Carr, Bishop Auckland

FLIGHT OF TIME
When at the age of 60 past,
Looking forward to retirement at last.
Although, spending will be rare,
With pension, not much to spare.
Most important will be health,
Even more so than wealth.
Life will take a slower pace,
But eternal time is sure to race.
Sadly some friends before,
Passed away and are no more.
Time is catching up with everyone,
Rich or poor, they’ll all be gone.
So-called famous are not immune,
To that fate of tolling tune.
Some are given longer time,
While others are called in their prime.
Wheel of time keeps on turning,
Anxious questions will be burning.
Future will not be anticipated,
But left to God who us created.
Meantime, a prayer would be good,
With all sincerity to be understood.
Time might come as long before,
When our planet will be no more.
Rose and Nicholas Sehi, Darlington