Requiem for the Living

A poem dedicated to the veterans of the Borneo campaign 1962-1966 and all the other small forgotten wars.

And as they stand hymn book in hand

Around memorial stone

Each part of the congregation

Yet each of them alone

They all have their memories

Of comrades they once knew

Their own unique experience

Memories clear and true

Theirs was just a small war

No charging in great mass

But creeping around from tree to tree

Or wading through morass

Their bodies hung with leeches

Watching out for snakes

Where a man can die from mosquito fly

Or the simplest of mistakes

Of sleeping on a jungle floor

In the monsoon rain

Of wondering will he ever

See his home again

And then the short sharp action

All over very fast

But the screams still haunt his dreams

And will until the last

He is just an old man now

Bright eyed but weak of frame

Who was never hailed a hero,

Who never courted fame

Who fought for what he thought was right

And willingly he went forth

To simply fight for freedom

And all that freedom’s worth