Lawrence Hall
Dispatches for the Colonial Office
LogoSophia Magazine – A Pilgrim’s Journal of Life,
Literature and Love
“Now, Soldiers, March Away”
Veterans’ Day in a Fading Town
Now, soldiers,
march away:
And how thou pleasest, God, dispose
the day!
-Henry V, III.iv.131-132
A
shuffle now, rather than a march
Between
curving ranks of folding chairs
Positioned
by students on the old gym floor
While
the high school band played the old hymns of war
A
real lieutenant-colonel with a smooth-shaven head
Costumed
in an old tree-suit that needed a wash
Mumbled
into a broken microphone
Accepted
his plaque, and ambled away
The
children were nice, the veterans were old
Fewer
children, fewer veterans every year
Now, soldiers, march away
