On Visiting Tyne Cot Cemetery

We wander in and out amongst the graves,
We pass each other,

but we do not acknowledge each other.

Eye contact would break the spell
We feel the same feelings,

think the same thoughts,
but it is private,
we don't want to share

 

Every stone is read,

we read the name, we read the rank,
we read the age, we read the country,

 

We cry over the soldiers "known only to God"
Who were these many nameless men that history has forgotten?

 

We weren't there, we were too young.
Whose sorrow are we feeling?
Whose sadness aches in our hearts?

S. Revell
January 27, 1997