A Day, As Usual

written in response to the Great War's/World War I's slogan: the war to end all wars.

war after war news

lengthening the morning chill

Remembrance Sunday

Remembrance Parade

shoulder to shoulder to shoulder

headless shadows

NeverEnding Story, November 11 2024

FYI: "It was the British author, H.G. Wells, that coined the expression: 'The war that will end war' to describe World War One, which had broken out in Europe in September 1914. Wells believed the conflict would create a new world order that would make future conflict impossible."

And Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law: Today, it monitors more than 110 armed conflicts and provides information about parties, the latest developments, and applicable international law. Some of these conflicts make the headlines, others do not. Some of them started recently, while others have lasted for more than 50 years.

Added:

a thin layer of dust 

on the Unknown Soldier Statue

Remembrance day

Added:

Remembrance Day

an armless veteran sighs

what is life worth?

Remembrance Day Haiku

to Bertrand Russell who claimed, War does not determine who is right – only who is left. 

shifting shadows

on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

Remembrance Day 

NeverEnding Story, November 11, 2022

FYI: Tomb of the Unknown Soldier (Canada), Wikipedia: The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier (French: Tombe du Soldat Inconnu) is a tomb situated before the National War Memorial in Confederation Square, Ottawa, Ontario. The tomb is dedicated to Canadian service members, and holds the remains of an unidentified Canadian soldier who died in France during the First World War; selected from a Commonwealth War Grave near Vimy, in the vicinity where the Battle of Vimy Ridge took place...

Added: written on Remembrance Day, a day celebrated in our consumer society where there is a growing gap between the rich and the poor:

Thank God it's Friday!

the shadows of shoppers pass

over a homeless vet

Collateral Damage

for Susan Sontag

white poppy

pinned to her son's first suit

Remembrance Day

Inside the top drawer of her husband's wooden desk, there is an old photo album. It starts with pictures of toy trucks, toy soldiers, toy tanks, and other delights of boys from the neighborhood playing in the sunlight. It ends with the picture of a new military cemetery with a row of white crosses in winter mist.

Kokako, 24, April 2016

Note: First introduced by British pacifists in 1926, the white poppy is used as a symbol of peace and worn as an alternative to (or complement to) the red poppy for Remembrance Day.