Remembrance.

What, end my days in misery?
In joyless silence? No, not me.
I'll raise a glass - or maybe two
To those who didn't see it through.

My classmates in their bustling prime,
Still frozen in that distant time;
Who never watched their children play,
And cannot share my toast today.

If they were here, instead of me,
Enjoying senile jollity,
They'd know my name, as I know theirs,
And bow their heads in silent prayer.

I know them all: I see them still,
Cold, broken in the morning chill.
In frightful ranks, in countless number
Like stringless puppets heaped in slumber.

I stepped across them, hurried past
And crept towards the withering blast
Of tortured steel, of fire and shot -
And then I woke, though most did not.

I lay in darkness, and still do
Unable to distinguish who
Had dressed my wounds, shut out the light
Condemned me to eternal night.

The garlands strung for my return
I never saw, and still I yearn
To see those friends from long ago
I'll meet them soon enough, I know.

I'll know those ghosts: yes, every one -
My friends and comrades, all now gone.
Who toiled, and swore, and yet still laugh
From ancient fading photographs.

Yes, now, if I could only see
That generation lost to me
In solemn darkness, for one day,
I'd be content to slip away.

So here's my toast! Let's make one more
To all those friends who went before.
And yet, this wine.. it tastes, to me,
As bittersweet as memory.