The silence hangs like the heavy soul of dawn,
memories of faces we, that are left to mourn.
Friends and comrades once full of life,
their souls gone away from life's pain and strife.

The cold air passes our motionless stance
carries the memories that through the void dance.
Memories of young lives who live forever same,
retained in our memories till we join them again.

Joined in a place where conflict reigns no more,
joined in heaven where there's no place for war.
Standing in silence remembering the past,
telling the young men - fight for peace that will last.

Fight with your young lives, fight to save the peace,
talk to your fellow man, let all wars cease.
Fight with an olive branch, let no man die,
war isn't glorious, the price is too high.

Look at the old men standing in the rain,
tears and rain their faces stain.
Remembering in silence the lives that have passed
Lord God give us peace - peace that will last.

Let us be the last muster who's souls mourn
for lost comrades whose souls pass with dawn.
Listen to the reveille - the harsh notes sound,
wake up you lost souls rise up from the ground.

Listen you young men listen to the call,
give us the memories of comrades who did fall.
Learn the lessons from the price that we paid
War is no answer - it's reward is the grave.

This poem was written as a memory of standing in the silence on Memorial Day commemorating those young men whom we remember as our friends and comrades that have lost their lives, youth, minds and bodies during conflict. It is also a reminder that each death in war is a damning indictment of man's inhumanity to man and the loss of yet another of God's children.

Michael J. Talbot 1st August 1998. Ramsey, Isle of Man