The following poem was written by Selena Herr when she was just 16 years old, Selena served in the Royal Canadian Air Cadets.
Please feel free to share it and print it off to be read at Remembrance Day events or other ceremonies.
The poem is called ” Remember”.
Remember
Do you recall the bangs? The booms? I don’t.
Can you see your friend bleeding to death in your arms? I can’t.
Can you feel the ground shake when the bombs go off? I know I can’t, nor do I want to.
I’ve never had to feel a bullet puncture my skin, or the weight of another’s life on my shoulders.
I’ve never had to look death in the eye, and never had to watch a brother die.
Never had to wonder if I would see the sunrise tomorrow, or if today, would be my last.
I’ve never had to worry about keeping my matches dry or what my comrades would think if they saw me cry.
I’ve never seen war, Never truly felt its affects. But here I stand, in Remembrance here I stand, thanking you, Honoring you, Remembering you. Recounting the sacrifices you’ve made. You’ve given your lives, Your limbs, Your blood, Your tears, Your innocence and youth. You didn’t do it to be a hero, but to protect the people you loved. You watched the scenes unfold around you, Gun in hand, scared, Shaking, not knowing what to do.
The war won, You came back home, scarred and broken, but proud.
You don’t know me, and you probably never will, but the time you spent wearing green, gun slung over your shoulder, extra rounds at hand, gave me the life I live today. If it weren’t for you, and the courage you possess, my life could have been a whole lot different.
Thanks to you there are many things I will never have to face. That is why here I stand on the day of Remembrance, Poppy pinned above my heart, And undying gratitude filling my soul. We stand proud and free. We stand proud and Canadian.
All because of you. So forever I stand, Remembering you, Honoring you, And above all else, Thanking you.
Selena Herr November 2010
