By Catherine Harkness
Augustin, the last Frenchman
to die on Armistice Day, was
spreading the welcome message,
of ceasefire soup at noon.
The shooting stopped at eleven, though
the Treaty was signed at dawn.
No one wanted to haul
their ammunition home.
Shot on 11th November,
his ceasefire came too late.
Flora Buchanan was ninety, and
died on New Year’s Eve.
She cared for her Tom, with dementia,
they shielded all year alone.
Exhausted by the winter,
she accepted care for Tom.
An early Christmas present,
the virus took its chance.
The shot in the arm was December.
Her vaccine was too late.
––––––––––
“I write to make sense of my thoughts and experiences.” – the writer
