A CANADIAN MOMENT
by William Bedford
The plaintive wail of the pipes
and the beat of the muffled drum
echo in the morning mist.
The Maple Leaf snaps in the breeze
above the bowed heads of the
mourners while John McCrae’s
immortal words are read.
As the bugler sounds the Last Post,
the youngsters fidget,
and look forward to playtime.
The oldsters shuffle, and look backward
to wartime.
The past and the future
of this blessed land
mingle here
at the 11th hour
on the 11th day
of the 11th month
for a Canadian moment.
