Commemorating Peace
By Jan Barry
When I was growing up,
The whole village stopped
For a moment of silence
At the 11th hour of the 11th day
Of the 11th month—
Armistice Day.
It was treated seriously,
Like Arbor Day,
When we planted trees—
Ancient holy days now,
When people commemorated peace
And spring planting.
Jan Barry is a poet, journalist and author of Earth Songs: New & Selected Poems, Life After War & Other Poems and co-editor of Winning Hearts & Minds: War Poems by Vietnam Veterans, among other works. His latest work is Earth Songs II: Poems of Love, Loss and Life (forthcoming). See www.janbarry.net
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