Harold Macdonald's Muse

Remembrance Day, 2006

England, God and good and war and me

Fell off the wall together, I was ten

Forever omelet, gelled and cooked right then

And nothing could unscramble that identity.

(World War One, a prelude to my view of things)

So when the cannons blast on a Remembrance Day

They celebrate, in spite of winter’s gloom and grey,

The song of good, of life; which, in me, God sings

And it has served me well. I daily raise my voice

To give lament or offer praise

These many years and many days

And act upon the opportunities for choice

And. the while, the mixture has held strong -

history struggling hard and working out

muddling through, for that’s what it’s about.

No need to stray, from where I yet I belong

England, God and me and war and good

Each lit the others; bright and strong we stood.

Lt.Col., The Reverend Canon John Fletcher